


Kidnapped

by Shell_Writes



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Amputated Limbs, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Cutting, Don't Like Don't Read, F/M, Forced Cannibalism, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Horror, Kidnapping, Knives, M/M, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Severed Head, Stabbing, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomiting, aaron and neil are tortured im sorry, aaron and neil bonding, aaron is sassy and i love him fight me, eyes stabbing, neil is a badass, so much blood y'all, this is creepy ok?, this is really bad okay?, yea we're going there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-11 09:06:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11145291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shell_Writes/pseuds/Shell_Writes
Summary: Neil and Aaron get kidnapped by four deranged men while the team is on a camping trip. shit happens and they have to escape this horror house. together.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> guys im truly sorry. this was gonna be a fluffy aaron & neil bonding fic. i don't know what went wrong?????? lol, this is so not fluffy. our boys get tortured by crazy cannibals. why must everything i touch turn dark. idk.  
> this originally was gonna be just 2 chapters but it got too long so i decided to cut it. and this will be neil & aaron POV.

Neil didn't know how he got into this situation. Actually he probably did, but he didn't remember it exactly anymore. He was lying on a cold, hard concrete, feeling something wet under his head, he tried to move his right hand to see what it was, but couldn't. His hands were restrained in front of him, god dammit, he needed to get out of this place.

He started moving when a sudden jolt of pain went through his body to his head, he groaned quietly. He couldn't afford whoever did this to him hear him try to escape (if he can get out of these restrains first, and stand up second) and he definitely couldn't afford a head injury.

"Finally, you're awake!" A voice said from his left, sounding irritated. Neil would've jumped 20 feet in the air from the scare if his body allowed him.

Neil turned his head slowly to the left, masking his pain, he wouldn't want his kidnappers to know he was feeling helpless and in pain. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.  
What he saw wasn't his kidnapper, it was, in fact, a 5 foot even blond boy who appeared to be restrained as well. But clearly, he wasn't _his_ blond though.

"Aaron? What the fuck are you doing here?" Neil asked.

The blond blinked at him looking annoyed, "nothing, just chilling."

Neil sat up using the wall behind him as leverage, and winced when he felt the pain in his head and chest. He pushed on his chest and let out a whimper, not broken, just bruised. Thank god. He touched his head and looked to his hands and found almost dried blood.

"I sense sarcasm," said Neil looking at Aaron for any visible injuries, there were none. It looks like he got the worst of it.

"You're learning, fucking great!" Huffed Aaron. "We need to get out of here!"

"Where is here exactly? And what happened?" Asked Neil.

"You don't fucking remember? That's just what I fucking needed!" Aaron said looking up at the ceiling. "God please don't let me die with Josten's face the last thing I see."

Neil rolled his eyes at how childish Aaron is being right now.

The last thing he remembered was setting camp with the team. Allison insisted they do something together before the upperclassmen graduation, and Matt suggested camping as a joke, Renee liked the idea, so they went. He was out of his and Andrew's tent in the middle of the night after he had a bad dream, and was walking in the forest when he stumbled upon Aaron and Katelyn making out like there was no tomorrow. Then he remembers running with them after they heard something similar to gunshots, and that's it.

"What happened after we ran?" Asked Neil looking around him, they were in a room.. no, a _basement_. It wasn't that dark with light coming from the two small windows on the top of the wall in front of them. So it was at least morning, and they haven't been gone for long. Andrew must be planning Neil's murder right now.

"Three guys jumped us and grabbed me and Katelyn, you helped her and she ran back to the camp to get help. When you tried to help me, another guy hit you and then continued beating you until you lost consciousness," Aaron explained, looking concerned. "They then took us to this creepy looking house deep in the forest. This is some horror movie shit, right here. We're fucked. I knew we shouldn't have come here."

Guys in a forest. House in a forest. Neil breathed in relief when he realized they most likely weren't the butcher's men. Even though the FBI tried to arrest them all, there were still a few running free. And besides, his father's men wouldn't take him to a place this...dirty? It smells like something died here recently.

"Why aren't you freaking out about this? And why do you look relieved, you sick bastard?"

"Don't worry, Aaron. I'll get us out of here before you know it," Lied Neil.

It was Aaron's turn to roll his eyes, "you have a concussion right now, and multiple bruised ribs. Good luck standing up."

Neil smiled at him, "I've had worse."

He surveyed the room, there was a chest of drawers in the right corner of the room and it's been moved slightly, he wouldn't have noticed it if he didn't spend 8 years of his life on the run, and this was how you survive on the run; noticing the small things.

He made a note to check what's inside and behind it, but first he has to make sure no one was in the house, or no one would come in if he started moving around the room. He turned to Aaron, "do you know how long we've been here? And also, did they come down here while I was passed out?"

Aaron huffed in annoyance.

"I know you'd rather spend your time kissing Katelyn than being trapped in a basement with me, and believe me, I'd rather spend mine kissing Andrew. But we're here anyways, and if you want to get out of this place, you better start working with me."

Aaron muttered a fine then said, "a few hours at most. No, nobody came down, and it's been suspiciously quiet." Neil nodded and continued to survey the room. Aaron continued, “What are you going to do?" 

"Hopefully get us out of here. Do you see that little door behind the drawers there?" Asked Neil pointing to the chest of drawers.

"What door?" Asked Aaron squinting his eyes to see better.

"There's obviously a door behind that chest. It's been moved several times by the look of the scratched floor. We need to see what's inside," Answered Neil.

Aaron flipped his head so hard to look at Neil, "you're insane! Haven't you learned anything from horror movie nights? Rule number one; do not go into small hidden side rooms in the basement of your fucking kidnappers. That's just logic!"

"Well, we can't just climb up the stairs. It's our only way. Maybe we'll find something to use as a weapon," Neil said the last part to himself.

"I don't care! I'm not going in there!" Said Aaron shaking his head.

"Fine. You can stay here alone. Keep an eye out for the four men. I'll tell Katelyn you loved her," Said Neil. Aaron glared at him.

They stayed silent for about half an hour to listen to any noises upstairs. There weren't any. Neil stood up slowly, and groaned from the pain. He leaned back at the wall when he felt dizzy.

"Neil!" Aaron whisper-shouted. "Andrew will kill me if I let you kill yourself before he gets the chance to do it himself!"

Neil gave him a thumbs up and started limping to the drawers across the basement, he tried to minimize the pain by holding his still restrained hands to his stomach.  
Unlike Aaron, His feet weren't restrained, probably because their kidnappers thought he'd be out of it longer. He started opening the drawers and looking for anything sharp to cut the ropes and to use as a weapon. After he finished looking, all he found was a screwdriver.

"Is that all?" Said Aaron from across the room. 

"Maybe we'll find something inside," he took the screwdriver and started moving the chest slowly, trying not to make too much noise.

After the small door was on full display, he turned back to face Aaron, "can you come here?"

Aaron rolled his eyes, "how do you suppose I do that with my feet fucking stuck together?"

"Can you crawl or something?" Aaron glared at him. "It was worth a try. Wait here, I'll go in and find something sharp."

"It's not like I can go anywhere else," Aaron sassed. Neil ignored him and opened the small door, as soon as the door opened, the strong smell hit him. God! What was that? It smelled like a hundred people died in there.

"What's that fucking smell?!" Aaron grimaced when the smell hit him.

"Death. I think we're not the first ones they took," Said Neil pulling his shirt over his nose to block the smell as much as he can.

"Here's something I never thought I'd say; Andrew was right, you really are a death magnet," said Aaron after a few seconds. Neil could tell that he was terrified but was trying to cover it with sarcasm just because he didn't want Neil to see he was scared.

Neil put his head in to look inside and wished he didn't. It's like the butcher all over again. There was blood everywhere. On the floor, on the walls, Everywhere. Neil swallowed his panic.

"What's there?" Aaron asked.

He probably shouldn't tell Aaron, he'll see it for himself later anyways, "there's.. blood. I'm going in."

  
He took a deep breath through his mouth and went in feet first, he almost slipped on the blood on the floor trying to walk. He heard Aaron say something about him being killed in there by some psychopaths but he ignored it in favor of walking further into the room.  
The first room was so small, almost like small hallway. When he walked into the second room, he couldn't swallow his panic anymore, he gave an almost silent scream and walked back, he then slipped and fell to his back on the blood soaked floor.

"Are you okay in there?" He heard Aaron say from outside.

He couldn't talk, everything was red. There was a dead body lying on a metal table, but they didn't have any arms or legs, and their chest was wide open with their ribs sticking out.

There were also multiple limbs hanging from the ceiling. Human limbs. He can't breathe, there's not enough oxygen in here, all of a sudden he's back in Baltimore with his father. But his uncle wasn't there on time, and he's that dead body, but he's still alive, begging his father and Lola to stop, but they don't.

He started choking on his own spit. How pathetic! His father would say.

He needed Andrew. Where was Andrew?

"A-Andrew?" He put his own hands on the back of his neck after he sat up. Andrew wasn't here right now, Aaron was. They were in some crazy guy's house. Not his father's, his father was dead, and so was Lola. He started breathing normally again repeating these things in his head, in Andrew's voice.  
After a little while, he finally got up and ignored the dead body, and the body parts hanging in order to look for something sharp. There's got to be a knife around here.

"What's happening down there? Neil?" Aaron almost yelled.

"I'm fine. Just... just wait there, I'll be there in a second," Neil said after he cleared his throat, his voice still sounded scratchy from his panic earlier.

"Hurry. The sun is rising," Aaron said.

He needed to hurry. Neil saw a fridge, maybe there's something for them to eat or drink. He opened it, and saw more red, he took a couple of steps back and stared in shock. There were human heads wrapped in plastic, fingers inside of containers, and eyeballs in jars. He looked around the room for what felt like the first time. There was a fridge, a stove, cupboards, and human meat. How did he not see this before?

These guys were fucking cannibals! He had to get Aaron and get out of this hellhole fast!

He started opening drawers and cupboards, and found a knife and a cleaver, he reached for them hesitantly remembering how it was his father's favorite weapon. No, his father was dead! And he needed to survive. He took them both and returned to the small door, it's gonna be hard getting back up to the basement so he put the knife handle in his mouth and started to cut through the ropes in his hands. when he was finally free, he climbed back with some struggling and a lot of pain, he found Aaron closer to the small door. He raised an eyebrow at him.

"You took too long!" Aaron tried to explain.

"I don't care. We need to get out of this place fast," Neil said cutting through the ropes on Aaron's hands. "These guys are fucking cannibals."

"What? How do you know? And why are you covered in fucking blood?" Aaron said rubbing his wrists.

When Neil cut the ropes on Aaron's feet he looked at him, "let's talk when we get out of here."

Aaron nodded and they both got up, and walked up the stairs slowly.

"No sounds. If someone sees you, run to the nearest door or window and get out. Don't wait for me. And here, this is for you," he handed Aaron the cleaver while whispering.

"Why do I get the cleaver?" Aaron whispered back taking the cleaver.

"Because. Now I'm gonna open the door, they're probably still asleep, so be quiet."

Neil opened the door slowly. Before they got out, Neil checked right and left but there was nothing, so he gestured to Aaron to follow him.

They tiptoed through the house until they heard something coming from the kitchen, they froze. Neil looked back to Aaron, who had his eyes wide open and was holding the cleaver like his life depended on it (it did), and put his finger to his lips, then mouthed 'kitchen' and 'turn back'. Aaron nodded.

They started walking in the opposite direction of the kitchen, Aaron pointed at the stairs and looked at Neil who shook his head.  
They only found a door in that side of the house, Aaron stood beside it with a question on his face.

Neil moved to the door and turned the knob slowly then opened the door, holding the knife in front of him and gesturing to Aaron to do the same. The only things they found were a sitting area and a TV set, Neil entered looking around for something useful, like a phone or something.

"What are you doing?!" Aaron whispered. Neil turned and shushed him. All he found was a hand watch, he checked the time and found it 7:15. He showed it to Aaron, and they moved out of the room.

It's obvious that they'd have to cross the kitchen to get out of this house, he looked at Aaron to tell him, but he seemed to figure it out on his own. Neil held his knife tight and nodded to the kitchen’s direction, Aaron took a breath then nodded back.

They started walking back to the kitchen, when they got there, they heard humming. Neil put his back against the wall beside the kitchen's entrance with Aaron doing the same. He'd have to go there on his own, and take out whoever was inside the kitchen so they could leave. It seemed to be only one man, he knows he can take him if it was a surprise attack from the back.

Neil peeked inside, and pulled back. He was right, one man, he just had to choose the perfect moment to strike. Neil looked at Aaron, held up his pointer finger to indicate that there's only one, then mouthed, 'I'll take him out. When you hear screaming, run to the door.'

Aaron started shaking his head, Neil put his hand on Aaron's shoulder, 'it's the only way, I'll be right behind you.'

Aaron's eyes darkened, 'Andrew'll kill you if you die.'

Neil smiled and nodded, 'be ready.'

Neil kept an eye on the guy until he gave Neil his back while cooking on the stove, he snuck into the kitchen and crouched behind the counter. The man was almost a foot taller than him, but he had the element of surprise and a knife ready to cut someone.

He attacked the man by jumping on his back, the man, in surprise, started walking backwards to hit Neil's back on the counter, he dropped his knife from the pain but kept a hold of the man, the man walked into the counter again, harder this time. And Neil knew he fucked up, he dropped on the floor. 

The man looked at him and smiled when he saw Neil with pain on his face, "looks like we've got ourselves a fighter."

Neil kicked him in the balls and the man fell to his knees whimpering in pain, Neil took the chance to get his knife but the man held his foot and dragged him back. So annoying.  
Neil kicked him in the face, the man's nose started bleeding, then instead of getting the knife, he got the fry-pan while the stove was still on and smacked the man on the right side of his face, the man started screaming. Finally.

Neil got the knife and stabbed him in the stomach, he then heard Aaron calling "Neil! Let's go!"

Neil almost left the knife inside the man, but he remembered his mother's lessons to never waste a good weapon, so he twisting it and took it out covered in blood and small pieces of internal organs that he wished he didn't see.

He ran to the hallway where Aaron was waiting on him with the door open while looking back into the house, when he saw Neil he half-yelled, "let's fucking go!"

"No! Behind you, Aaron!" Neil screamed, running towards Aaron, but the man who was behind him kicked him in the stomach with his foot to get him back inside the house.

Aaron fell back inside, at the same time Neil launched his body at the man trying to stab him, he buried the knife into his right shoulder and the man being bigger than him, shoved him back into the ground.

It hurts like hell, but this wasn't the time for that so he pulled out the screwdriver and jammed it into the man's left eye socket. The man screamed in agony as blood and other liquids poured out of his eye. Neil was completely covered in blood right now, but he didn't really care. He kept telling himself that he was _not_ being Nathaniel, his father's son, he was just doing this to survive.

Neil pulled out the screwdriver and the knife and looked back at Aaron only to find yet another man holding him from behind with a gun to his head.

"Drop your weapons or say goodbye to your little friend here," said the man. Neil looked at Aaron for a bit then dropped his weapons.

"Good boy. Now come back inside the house. John, are you with me?" The man said the last part to the bleeding man- _john,_ who was still whimpering in pain. Neil wasn't sorry at all.

John nodded and got up after trying a couple of times.

"Good. Go check on Zachary, will ya? I'll get these bad boys back to the basement," The man with the gun said, pointing said gun at Neil. "Start moving!"

Neil walked to the basement's door and opened it, god dammit, all their efforts were wasted. He went down the stairs with a snail pace hoping for something to happen. Neil knew the chances of another escape were slim to none.

"Faster!"

When he finally got to the end of the stairs, Aaron was pushed down the last couple of stairs, but Neil caught him before he could fall.  
They moved away from the man as he stepped closer to them.

"Steve! Zachary's dead!" John said from the top of the stairs.

Steve looked at Neil angrily and hit him in his face with the gun's butt. Neil stumbled back but Aaron was by his side in seconds.

"Well, I guess it's for the best, don't you agree John? He was always the weak one," Steve laughed. "Call Mark and tell him what happened. And get me some damn tape."  
John nodded and ran back into the house. After five minutes of complete silence, john returned with tape, he threw it down to Steve who looked at Aaron, "take it, and tape the troublemaker's hands together and don't forget his feet."

"Fuck you," Aaron spat.

Neil looked at Aaron and shook his head.

"Maybe you should listen to your friend there. You forget who holds the gun, now tape him or else!"

Aaron took the tape and started taping Neil's hands together, he looked apologetic, Neil gave him a small nod then sat down so he could do his feet when he was done.  
When Aaron was finished with him, Steve ordered Aaron to sit back while he did his.

When he was finished both the boys were restrained again, tighter this time.

Steve stood back and admired his work, when he was satisfied he lowered his gun and breathed deeply, "finally. You two are making this harder than it has to be."  
Both boys glared at him. He rolled his eyes and sighed, "whatever. Stay here and don't move. Or you'll beg me to kill you when I'm done with you."

When he made sure they understood, he walked back upstairs and closed the door.

"We're dead," Aaron muttered to himself.

"No, we're not. We can get out of this," Neil told him knocking his knee to the other boy's knee.

Aaron looked at him like he didn't believe him but didn't say anything about it, instead he asked, "you've got any more ideas?"

Neil looked around the basement once again, the small door was locked, so no more weapons, besides he wouldn't be able to walk there without them hearing him from upstairs.  
With another man coming, they'll be three. It's already hard enough with two, and one of them was now disabled. He sighed. He'll figure this out, he has to. He has to get himself and Aaron out of here, and besides he's been through worse. He's been through much worse situations. 

"Nothing?" Aaron asked quietly.

Neil looked at him, "we'll figure this out, I promise. You and me. For Andrew and Katelyn. For the foxes," He didn't take his eyes away from Aaron's until he nodded in understanding.

It couldn't have been more than 8:40 when the door opened again and Steve and another guy (presumably Mark) walked down the stairs.

"You two have been very bad, and we decided to play with you before we kill you," Steve said grinning.

Mark nodded, "we don't do this often, but it's not every day when our food kills one of us. It's only fair."

Aaron grimaced but thankfully didn't say anything. John, who looked more cared for with bandages on his left eye and his right shoulder, came down the stairs with a toolbox.  
Steve looked at Mark who nodded and went upstairs again. Neil kept his eyes on the toolbox, he knew his father and his kind enough to guess what's inside. And he didn't like it one bit.

Mark came back down with two chairs, one in each hand. He put them facing each other in the middle of the room. Then he came to Neil and said, "so you're the one who killed Zachary?" Neil just stared at him. Mark raised an eyebrow, "aren't you scared yet?"

Neil was scared, but not for the same reason this jerk thought. This is scared because someone else he cares about might get hurt, a part of his family. Aaron. He didn't say that though. "I'm not scared of you," he knew he shouldn't say that, but he couldn't help it.

Mark seems to think for a bit, "is it because of your scars? Do you think you've seen the worst in people?" When Neil just stared at him, he turned to look at Aaron. "Perhaps you have. But your little friend clearly hasn't, so how about we change that?"

"No," Neil warned even though he wasn't in the position to do anything.

"Oh. Yes! We're gonna have our fun with the both of you, but we'll start with Blondie here and you'll watch," Steve said coming to Aaron's side and lifting him up, he started struggling and kicking the older man's feet and shins. He then was dropped on one of the chairs.

"I'll kill you, you sick motherfucking bastards!" Aaron screamed at john who was opening his restrained hands and taping them to each armrest. This wasn't looking good.

Mark lifted Neil and dropped him on the facing chair, "You can enjoy this, because we sure will."

Steve opened the toolbox, and pulled out a pair of Lineman Pliers, "let's start, shall we?"

Aaron started struggling again but John was holding his shoulder in place, Steve walked to him and stopped when he was right in front of Aaron.

"Don't touch him, I swear I will kill you if you do!" Neil screamed at Steve.

Mark held him down when he tried to go for Steve and laughed, "stop fighting, you'll get your turn."

Steve used the pliers to grip Aaron's thumbnail, who started pulling his hands away but couldn't move far. "This is gonna hurt like a bitch."

"NO!" Neil screamed at the same time that Steve grasped the nail with the pliers and slowly pried it from the nail bed before tearing it off of the finger, Aaron was screaming and wailing in pain and his eyes were streaming tears down his cheeks, "Please!"

Steve ignored him and went for his index finger to do the same, "isn't this entertaining?" Mark breathed on his ear and neck.

"Please stop!" Neil begged, "stop hurting him! Hurt me instead!" Neil has never felt this helpless, even in Baltimore. At least he was alone there.

"Aw. Aren't you just the heroic type?" Mark said from behind him before punching him in his cheek.

Neil didn't know which ones were his screams and which were Aaron's anymore, but he kept his eyes on the other boy who was getting more quiet with each pull, " _don't go to sleep just yet_!" Neil said to Aaron in German. Aaron continued screaming.

By the time they got to Aaron's fourth nail, he was passed out with his head hanging down.

"It's still too early for rest, Blondie. We're just getting started," Steve said and the other two men laughed with him.

"Hey! That's enough, Asshole!" Neil warned, he just needed them to leave Aaron for a little while.

"I think it's the redhead's turn anyways," John said letting go of Aaron. Good.

Steve was pretending to think while rubbing his chin, "I suppose you're right, Johnny. I'll start."

"That's not fair! You got to play with the Blondie! Besides, he hurt me, it's only fair I pay him back," John said giving Neil a mischievous grin.

"I said, I will start first," Steve said more firmly. "I'll give him to you later."

Neil's skin crawled at that, he's been tortured before. He knows he'll survive, like he always does, but it still got his heart beating out of his chest when Steve pulled out a knife from the toolbox. He'll survive this. He has to. Neil refused to die at the hands of these sick bastards.

"I quite like this one, Steve. So full of fire," Said Mark. "Have you seen the scars?"

Steve nodded, "what caused those scars and burns, little guy?"

"Fuck you," Neil hissed, he knew it's not smart to talk like this to the man with the knife, but he never was actually smart when it came to these things. The important thing was that Aaron was still out of it.

Mark laughed and moved from behind him to get another knife from the box, "how about I get that shirt out of the way?" Neil flinched when Mark started cutting his shirt. "Oh you're afraid of the little knife?" He asked as he pulled the shirt off.

The three men looked at his stomach, but only John had wide eyes, "Now where did a little boy like yourself get these big boy scars?" Mark said. Neil bit the inside of his cheek and stared at the men with a brave look on his eyes.

"You'll lose that look soon enough," Said Steve and ordered the other two to hold Neil.

When they did, Steve presses the knife to Neil's stomach, he fought off the panic raising at the back of his throat, he won't give them the satisfaction, he kept telling himself.

"How about we add a few of our own, in honor of our late friend, Zachary?" Mark asked as john stood behind Neil and held him down.

"That's a great idea," Said Steve while tracing Neil's old scars with the knife. Neil shuddered slightly.

Neil bit his lip when the knife started cutting his skin and blood started to flow out of his open wound.

"It's not fun if you don't scream!" John said punching him causing his teeth to sink deeper into his lip. He let out a strangled noise before he could stop himself. "That's better."

Steve continued cutting and breaking the skin, and Neil still refused to let them hear him scream again. It hurt like hell, it hurt so fucking bad, but he kept thinking of Aaron, Andrew, and the foxes. Later, this will only be a memory.

After god knows how long, Steve stopped and admired his work with a proud smile. Neil's stomach was full of new cuts and blood was rushing down to his pants. Only one of cuts was deep enough to cause any serious damage.

Neil was breathing heavily, and his vision started to get blurry and full of black dots, he can't pass out now. He bit the inside of his cheek to feel the pain and stay alert.

"Is it my turn now?" A voice- _no_ , john asked behind him sounding delighted.

"Um, we can't kill him just yet. And he's starting to lose consciousness. I think they had enough for now, you can continue after lunch," Steve answered getting up from where he was bending.

"They should eat with us, they _are_ our guests after all," Said Mark laughing at the same time that John huffed in disappointment.

"We won't eat anything you give us, you disgusting pieces of shits," Neil breathed out.

He got a punch to the stomach for that, Neil wailed at the sudden pain, his eyes stinging with unshed tears.

"You don't sound grateful for the people who took you in," Steve said as Neil continued squirming and whimpering in pain.

"I think he'll be nice now, Steve. Is that right?" Said Mark directing the last part to Neil.

Neil ignored him but he didn't seem to be expecting an answer because he walked to the toolbox and gathered the tools.

"OK. I'll go prepare lunch. John, set the table with two more chairs," ordered Steve walking upstairs with john climbing behind him.

When Mark was done, he picked up the toolbox and walked up the stairs but stopped before getting out of the door and looked down at Neil. Neil continued to ignore him. "Don't do anything. I won't be able to stop Steve and John from doing anything if you do."

When he left, Neil's eyes were getting heavier by the second. He closed them for a moment, just one moment and he'll wake up. Wake Aaron up, and think of something to help them get out of this place. Then darkness came.

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a short chapter from Aaron's pov, next chapter will be back to neil's pov and some action, hopefully.

Aaron woke up with a burning sensation in his fingers, he felt his whole body burning and aching. He lifted his neck slowly and groaned in pain, he obviously was sitting with his head hanging for a while. His neck was killing him.

He looked at his fingers and was greeted by a horrific sight. Four of his nails were missing, and there was a lot of dried blood.

Aaron almost screamed at the sight but held himself together by the sheer force of will only. He dragged his stare away from his damaged hand to the other unconscious body in the room.

Neil looked even worse than him, his abdomen was on full display and was full of cuts and dried blood, his breathing was shallow even in his sleep.

"Neil!" Aaron whisper-shouted, he was surprised by how his voice sounded, it didn't sound like himself at all, hoarse and scratchy. From all the screaming, Aaron thought.

When Neil didn't respond and didn't even stir. Aaron started to really freak out, what if he's really badly hurt, like badly hurt he's in a comma or something.  
He called him louder but still nothing.

Aaron started dragging the chair with his restrained feet and moved closer to Neil's chair. His chair was only two feet away, but when he got there, he was winded, his breathing too rapid. If Kevin were here, he'd never stop bitching about doing cardio and going to gym more.

He never thought he would miss Kevin's nagging.

Aaron shook Neil, "wake up!!"

Neil flinched away from his hands almost knocking the chair down, "Aaron." He breathed in relief after his eyes focused on Aaron. When Aaron nodded, Neil's hands came to touch his face, he then looked at the older man's hand, "how are you feeling?"

Aaron didn't think that Neil knew what he was doing, still hazy from just waking up and the pain. Aaron didn't pull away though.

"You're the one with several knife cuts in your stomach," Said Aaron, but when all Neil did was stare at him with a lost look, he continued, "I'm alright."

Neil shook his head up and down before withdrawing his hand from Aaron. He looked at the windows in the basement, Aaron followed his gaze, there was still light outside, but clearly the sun was sitting.

"We need to get out of this place before night falls," said Aaron looking back at Neil.

Neil only nodded before the basement door swung open and Mark walked in, "you two are finally awake!" he said walking down the stairs.

They only glared at him, Aaron could feel Neil wanting to get up and fight the older man, but his feet were restrained and he would only fall if he got up.

Mark didn't seem bothered by them, "you missed lunch, you must be starving!" Aaron noticed the bag in his hand and so did Neil from the way he held Aaron again.  
"No need to be scared. I'm only here to clean you up. We don't want you to get infected now, do we?. Waste of good meat, if you ask me."

Aaron shuddered at that, he almost forgot how sick these people were. Neil's hands tightened around Aaron's shoulder and he was reminded of Andrew's grip back at the Hemmicks household a year and a half ago.

"Leave. Us. Alone." Neil growled at the man in front of them.

"I can't do that, I have to clean you up or Steve would be mad. You don't want that to happen, believe me," Smiled Mark.

This sick asshole was talking to them as if they were long lost friends, and he was telling them about what's new in his life. Aaron would enjoy killing him and wiping that smile off of his face.

Mark came behind Aaron's chair and pulled him back, Neil had to let go of him or he would fall on the ground, but he kept his eyes on Aaron's and nodded to him.

When he was finished dragging Aaron away from Neil's chair, Mark sat down beside Aaron and opened his bag, he pulled out bandages and a clear liquid bottle.

Aaron screamed as Mark poured the liquid on his nail-less fingers, it was an excruciating wave pain that flooded his whole body. Aaron tried to pull his hands away but couldn't move much, he can feel his eyes stinging with unshed tears, things became blurry.

His fingers were pulsing and throbbing with pain, Aaron bit his tongue to stop his wounded screams. If he ever did learn anything from Neil, it was not showing pain to your enemies.

After Mark was done, he wrapped his hand in the bandages and ruffled his hair, "you did good, Blondie."

Aaron pulled his head away tiredly but Mark was already walking towards Neil who was looking at him with a question in his eyes. Aaron nodded and closed his eyes and focused on thinking about Katelyn instead of thinking about the pain.

He thought about her shy smile whenever she caught him staring at her, how she would always listen to him bitch about Andrew and the whole team, and never complains to him about her problems, her own equally important problems.

How she looked angelic when the sun rays hit her hair in the most perfect way possible, when she's cheering, he'll never get bored from looking at her. He thought about how she must be broken right now about him, would she cry? Of course, she would. Aaron wished she wouldn't, he never wanted her to feel sad ever again.

Aaron didn't say it yet, because they were obviously very busy right now being tortured by psycho killers and all, but he'll always be grateful for Neil for saving Katelyn.  
He can't imagine her being with them, suffering like them, being touched by those pigs. He felt furious just thinking that, he will never let them or any other person like them touch her.

He felt himself shaking and opened his eyes when he heard a small choking sound, Mark was dabbing a bloody damp cloth on Neil's cuts.  
He can see that Neil was trying really hard not to make a sound.

Mark finished and wrapped bandages around his stomach, and got up with a huff, "all done. Now let's get some meat in you two, you look horrible."

"We're not eating with you, you sick asshole!" said Aaron. Mark looked at him and shook his head.

"You better. Or else Steve would be very angry," Said Mark gathering his supplies in the bag and closing it.

"Fuck Steve and fuck you!" spat Aaron. Neil was looking at him and shaking his head slightly. No! he would not just sit around and eat human meat! Fuck them!

Mark huffed, "fine. Have it your way. If you want to be on the other side of Steve's rage."

Mark freed his hands from the armrest with a pocket knife and did the same to his feet.

When he hauled Aaron up to his feet, Neil yelled, "where are you taking him?!"

"Don't worry, I'll come back for you," said Mark helping Aaron up the stairs.

Aaron stopped struggling when he realized he couldn't walk on his own without falling down.

They got out of the basement then climbed another flight of stairs. They walked through the big house until they stopped in front of the dinning table.

Steve was sitting at the head of the table, and John was sitting one chair down his right.

There was a big bowl of soup in the middle of the table, plates in front of five chairs, and of course what made him gag and walk backwards just to be stopped by Mark. A pair of human legs severed from just under the knee.

Aaron wanted to get out of this place fast! How could they just… how could they just do this to other humans?

"Sit down beside John. I'm gonna go get the other pretty shortie," whispered Mark close to his ears. Aaron shivered and pulled away from him.

John walked to him and dragged him to the chair between him and Steve. Mark went back downstairs.

John taped his hands to each armrest again, "doesn't it just look yummy?"

Aaron wanted to spit in his face but he just pulled his head away from the smiling man, looking at him disgustedly.

 


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for cannibalism, forced cannibalism, vomit and non-explicit torture, and severed limbs. sorry guys this is bad. also Neil's POV

When Mark came back to the basement, Neil warned, "If you hurt him, I'll fucking kill you."

Mark laughed, "you seem like a good friend, protecting him and all, but do you think he'll do the same for you?"

Neil ignored his question, he knew Aaron would do the same thing.

After Mark was done with pulling the tapes from his hands and feet, he hauled Neil up with him. Everything in Neil's body hurt, it feels like he's been hit by a truck. An 'ow' escaped his mouth before he could stop it.

"You'll feel stronger once you eat something," said Mark helping Neil up the stairs. "You're too thin."

They continued to the second floor, and walked until they got to the dining table.

Aaron was sitting on the right side of the table, he looked okay, or as okay as he last saw him. He looked at him and nodded slightly, Aaron looked at him and blinked twice.

Mark sat Neil down in front of Aaron on the left side and sat beside him. With John sitting beside Aaron, and Steve sitting at the head of the table on Neil's and Aaron's sides.

Neil had figured it out before, Steve was the 'alpha' of the group judging by the way he ordered everyone around him. Mark was the second strongest with John obviously being the weakest link. If Neil wanted to get out of here, he'd get rid of John first.

"What do you think of the food?" Mark asked him. Neil didn't even notice what's on the table being lost in his plans, when he registered what's on it he gagged and looked at Aaron who had a horrified look on his face.

"You two should stop doing that, didn't your mothers teach you that that's not a nice thing to do," said Mark sounding annoyed.

On the table, there were two human legs cut from below the knees, and they obviously have been cooked thoroughly. There also were a huge bowl of soup, and cups of clear liquid (Neil doubted it was water) in front of everyone.

John got up and held one leg and started cutting the flesh into smaller pieces with a butcher knife, he did the same to the other one. He then distributed it to each plate in front of them.

Like Aaron, Neil's hands were taped to the armrests, so he couldn't do anything when John put some on his plate. Neil wanted to throw up, how could a human being do such thing?

Actually he knew how a human could do it, he's seen so much in his life on the run, his father and his men, Lola. But maybe none were this fucked up.

"Feed them," ordered Steve while eating from his plate.

The other two stood up, Mark was holding Neil's mouth open, he kept moving his head to get out of his grip.

Aaron was having the same problem with John, screaming, "let go of me!"

Mark squeezed his cheeks so he'd open his mouth, then shoved a piece of meat inside. Neil tried to throw it back out, but Mark put a hand on his mouth and closed his nose with the other one.

Neil was hearing Aaron struggling.

Neil gagged again, he can't believe this is happening.

"Swallow it, and I'll let you breathe," said Mark. Neil didn't have another choice, he felt tightness in his chest from the lack of oxygen, then he swallowed.

When the hand was removed, he took a deep breath and tried to throw up, but couldn't, he was still gagging and coughing though, but nothing came out. His chin was dripping spit.

Aaron had a different story, as soon as John's hand was removed, he threw up on the table.

Steve slammed his hands on the table, "you ungrateful son of a bitch!" He got up with a fork in his hand, and moved to Aaron's side. "I gave you food, and you throw it up? I should let you eat it back before I fucking kill you!"

"Hey! why don't you miss with someone who can fucking fight back, you greasy worm-ridden fuckface!" Neil yelled at Steve before he could even think of what he's saying. He definitely _cannot_ fight back in this state.

Steve turned to look at him with disbelief in his eyes, John snorted but stopped immediately when Steve glared at him. Aaron looked sick. Neil heard Mark mutter something under his breath, but he ignored him in favor of watching Steve who was stalking towards him. Shit.

"You dare disrespect me, in my own house?" Asked Steve.

Neil didn't answer him, and he seemed to be more offended by that. Steve stood over him and looked down at him with an angry look on his face.

Suddenly, he drove the fork into Neil's right hand. Neil screamed at the sudden pain that shot up his arm like fire, he tried to pull his hand away, but couldn't.

"I think John gets his turn now." Said Steve pulling the fork out of his hand with blood gushing out of the four small round wounds, Neil cried out at the feeling.

"Finally!" Said John moving to Neil's side.

Aaron looked at Neil and opened his mouth to say something but Neil shook his head and stared at him until he closed his mouth.

"I think I'll take his eye, just like he took mine!" Announced John. "Maybe I'll use the knife instead of the screwdriver. Or the spoon!"

Neil almost shuddered at the thought but he kept his face free of emotions, even though it was full of tears and spit.

John took the knife and started moving it to Neil's eyes when Mark stopped him, "how about you start with something else? We don't want him badly hurt just yet, remember?"

John actually pouted like a small kid when his mother refused to give him candy, "he won't die without his eye!"

"I know but still, not yet," said Mark more firmly.

John looked at Steve for backup but the other man ignored him and continued eating. John huffed out a fine.

"I guess I'll take his…" john stopped and looked at Neil hungrily, Neil couldn't believe that after all the years running and hiding and fearing that his death will be by his father's hands, he'll die by some random crazy person. His luck is that fucked up. No, he won't die. He won't leave Andrew. Never. And Aaron was with him, so he'll never give up.

John held his right earlobe and started cutting it with the sharp knife, Neil wailed as the sharp unbearable pain overwhelmed him. He heard screaming, his screaming, then he heard Aaron's. then he heard a laugh.

Neil was panting when John was done, his vision getting blurry, but he refused to pass out now. He heard Aaron call his name, again and again, he didn't stop until Neil looked at him.

John laughed again, "look! I got your earlobe!" he said waving the piece of flesh in front of his face. "I should get the other one!"

"That's enough John. We'll continue after dinner," said Mark not even bothering to look their direction. Steve was giving them a chilling smile. He was enjoying himself, that son of a bitch.

"Fine. But look, redhead!" said john but Neil ignored him, he's starting to get dizzy, everything getting hazy and white.

He flinched when he felt a hand holding his jaw tightly and forcing his head to look at John. Neil watched him through half-lidded eyes.

John smiled and ate Neil's earlobe, Neil wanted to throw up but that would take too much energy. So he settled on scrunching his face in disgust.

"You're disgusting!" he heard Aaron scream. John only smiled wider and licked his fingers as he walked back to his chair.

The rest of the dinner was a quiet affair except for John talking here and there, and Aaron screaming and cursing everyone. 

The pain in Neil's body was still present, the previous blinding agony turned into a constant throb.

After they were done, they brought Neil and Aaron back to the basement and sat them on the chairs again. It was already night time, and from the clock upstairs It was 9:30, dinner took a long time.

Neil was so tired and his body was aching, he just wanted to sleep.

Aaron fought and struggled more than him, he was still like a fire. Neil wants him to stop antagonizing them, it'll only end with him being more hurt. They needed to play this smart.

Do what they ask them to do, then run when they least expect it. They need to be sneaky and look helpless, then strike at the perfect moment, but Aaron was a different kind of a guy, he faced it head on, it only made them angrier and angrier.

_'Then, we're not so different,' thought Neil._

Mark pulled out their tools and Neil was almost too tired to react, he had to stay alert.

Steve got a knife and walked to Aaron, "this is for being ungrateful, don't think I forgot."

Neil wanted to get up but couldn't, his legs weren't cooperating, he settled with a tired, "don't touch him, asshole." He knew he didn't sound that threatening with his eyes half closed and his voice so low almost a whisper.

They ignored him, and soon he heard Aaron's screams as they started cutting him in the shoulders moving down to his chest. Neil couldn't bear it anymore, Aaron's pained screams shattered his heart, it's like he's been kicked in the guts and his tears didn't help at all.

The men refused to acknowledge him as he begged for them to leave Aaron alone.

After they were done, Steve moved to Neil's side while Mark stayed by Aaron's and cleaned up after Steve's mess. John was next to Steve.

"it's your turn, redhead!" said John with a knife in his hand. Neil was too numb to talk or move so he just stared at Mark and what he was doing to Aaron.

Aaron was quiet except for the low whimpering here and there.

John gained Neil's attention by cutting him from the back of his shoulder to the front, Neil looked back at him but refused to make a sound, biting the inside of his cheek until he tasted the familiar metallic taste of blood. Thankfully, the cut was shallow, drawing small beads of blood along a red line.

Neil didn't bother listening to them as they tried to make him scream or be scared of them. He was succeeding until they mentioned burning and a fire. He snapped his attention back to the three men.

"Aha, so that's how we can get you to scream," said Steve, "I do like me some roasted meat from time to time."

He saw them getting a lighter, lighting it, then waving it in front of his face.

He flinched back and screamed involuntarily, thoughts of Lola and his father came crashing through. He can hear her voice from behind his head, telling him how she would cut him up after Nathan was done with him, how she would enjoy every second of it.

Neil was slapped in his face, and snapped out of his head and took a deep breath, he wasn't aware he was holding it.

Mark was looking down at him, "I think that was enough for today. We still have plenty of time left."

Steve pretended to think and rubbing his chin while John looked disappointed that they've stopped, "okay. It's late, anyways. We'll start tomorrow with the lighter."

John nodded excitedly, and Mark moved to yet again gather their tools and putting it back in the box. After the three were done, they climbed the stairs and closed the door after themselves.

Neil and Aaron were silent for about half an hour, Neil was already half asleep when he heard Aaron talk to him quietly, "Neil."

Neil moved his head lazily to look at Aaron, he was closer to him, Neil wondered when did he get so close, how didn't Neil notice it, was he really that tired?

"Neil. Open your eyes, we're getting out of here," said Aaron shaking him, voice still croaky.

"how?" asked Neil.

Aaron pulled out the lighter from under his shirt, "it's the only thing I could get."

Neil had to stop himself from flinching back as Aaron held the lighter to him and looked at him with a question in his eyes.

He nodded and held out his hands, this is gonna hurt like hell.

He was surprised when Aaron started talking to him about Exy as he was trying to melt the tape off of his hands, Neil found himself focusing on Aaron's voice as the tape started losing its Adhesive, Aaron closed the lighter and pulled on the tape until it was of his hands.

Neil did the same for Aaron and soon they were free from the restraints on their hands and feet.

They waited another half an hour, they then got up the stairs making sure not to make a sound, and opened the door slowly.

It wasn't locked, that was the first alarm that's gone off in Neil's head.

They probably forgot to lock it, Neil tried to convince himself.

"This is too easy," whispered Neil as they walked through the dark quiet house.

"What are you talking about? Let's just get out of here," Aaron whispered back.

They tiptoed until they got to the front door, he grabbed the door knob and waited until Aaron tapped him on the shoulder.

Something was off. Escaping shouldn't be _this_ _easy_.

Neil turned back and looked at Aaron and whispered, "this is too easy, Aaron."

"Josten. Let's just go. The door is right here," whispered Aaron, frustrated.

Neil looked at him for a few seconds before turning back and twisting the door knob. Aaron was probably right, this was just his head playing tricks on him.

 

When he opened the door the three men were sitting on the porch smoking, John laughed with Mark when he noticed them, and Steve said, "about damn time. We've been waiting for almost two hours for you to join us."

 

 


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what? i'm back from the dead guys! i honestly wasn't planning on finishing this but your comments convinced me to return and finish what i started! and i will, hopefully! this is a short chapter but the next will be longer, i promise!  
> this is Neil's POV the next chapter will be Aaron's.  
> TW: suicide, and that's pretty much it for this one. also i edited the previous chapters and will update the tags soon, so check it out! this is DARK, so please don't read if you're triggered by these things!  
> otherwise, please enjoy this :)

Neil slammed the door shut, he then held Aaron by the wrist and dragged him back to the house. He knew it was too fucking _easy_. He should’ve listened to his guts.

Now was not the time for this, these asshole were waiting for them outside, which means they let Aaron take the lighter on purpose. These assholes wanted to toy with them.

They needed a weapon.

"Oh. My. God," panicked Aaron. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my fucking go—"

"Shush!"

"What do we do now?" asked Aaron.

What _could_ they do? All they can do now is fight for their lives.

"We need to find weapons."

"kitchen?" asked Aaron.

Neil thought of that already, but the men were getting back inside the house. The only way they have now was upstairs.

"Upstairs."

They climbed to the first floor, which was the floor they had dinner on, Neil didn't see anything useful, so they continued to the second floor.

"This place is huge," Said Aaron. Neil had to agree this place was massive, that meant there were a lot of hiding places. Hopefully.

The first thing they saw was a door, when Neil opened it, the room was completely empty, not even a clock.

They moved on to the next door but it was the same. Where were their fucking stuff?

"Neil," said Aaron when they heard the voices of the men getting closer, they don't have much time now.

Neil dragged Aaron to the next room and closed the door behind them. It was a bedroom. But it wasn't empty. Someone was sleeping on the bed.

Neil looked back at Aaron to gesture to him to not make a sound but Aaron was frozen and looking at the bump on the bed like he just saw a ghost. Neil tightened the grip on his wrist to gain his attention back, Aaron dragged his stare back on him.

The person on the bed moved and they took a few steps back until they hit the wall, their eyes still fixed on the person. Waiting for any sudden movement.

The person sat up on the bed, Neil and Aaron held their breath and looked at the _old lady_ looking straight at them.

"Is that you Johnny?" asked the old lady still looking straight at them. Neil quickly swept the room with his eyes, there were glasses on the bedside table. she made no move to get them though.

Like Neil, Aaron looked absolutely freaked, but unlike Neil, Aaron made a move to the door. Thankfully, Neil stopped him before he got the chance.

The woman got up and smiled at them, "So you're the two who killed one of my sons and half blinded the other. I always told them that someday, they'll get hurt. They never listened. Kids, am I right?"

What? They were her sons? They were fucking _brothers_?

Neil thought that they can take the woman if she were to scream or call for the three men.

"What the actual fuck?" asked Aaron then immediately realized his mistake and closed his mouth.

The women laughed, her laugh sounded venomous. She hobbled to her bedside table and put on her glasses. She turned to look at them with a gun (with a suppressor attached) in her shaking hand. She pointed it at them, still smiling slightly.

They would’ve took a step back if they their backs weren't pressed to the wall already. Neil squeezed Aaron's wrist keeping his eyes on the old woman.

"Don't be scared, darlings," laughed the old woman. How fucked up was this family? 

Before Aaron or Neil could say anything, the woman laughed again and pointed the gun to _her own_ temple and pulled the trigger. Aaron and Neil jerked away from her to the corner of the room.

Aaron voiced Neil's thoughts with whispering "what the actual fuck? Did she just.." with wide eyes and a scared expression.

The woman was lying dead on the floor, blood was running from the hole in her head. What just happened?

Neil snapped out of his freaked out state and moved quickly to the body to take the gun. He tried not to touch the body as he pulled the gun away from the still warm hand.

He shivered when he made contact with the skin.

Neil checked for bullets and found that nothing was left. "Dammit!"

Neil kept looking through the drawers, and he stopped when Aaron called him.

"I found a knife!"

Neil took the knife from Aaron and put it in the back of his pants.

The two quickly walked out of the room, they could hear the three men downstairs, talking and taunting them to come out.

Neil ignored them and motioned Aaron to follow him. Maybe they can find a door or a window they could escape from. But before Neil could even look for another room, the doorbell rang.

All the voices in the house died down.

Aaron and Neil looked at each other, lost. Could this be another one of their games to toy with them? Looking at Aaron, he obviously thinks the same thing.

They ignored the bell and started moving further into the house.

The whispers downstairs silenced, then a door opened and Steve's voice came, "how may I help you, officers?"

Neil froze along with Aaron. Could this… really…

Aaron started walking to the stairs but Neil stopped him.

"What're you doing?!" Aaron almost yelled, "the cops are here! We're saved."

"We need to be careful," Neil reminded Aaron.

Aaron nodded and the two moved carefully to the stairs, not going down but looking and listening.

"Sorry for the disturbance, sir. We've been called because two people went missing last night around your area," A voice said. "These are their pictures. Have you seen or heard anything at 2 A.M. last night?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it got cut at a horrible place but the next chapter begins with Aaron's POV so i wanted to seperate the two.  
> I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. should i continued with this or? tell me!


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaron's POV.  
> TW: eye trauma, guns/shooting, non explicit violence. i think that's about it for this one, hmu if i missed smthn

"Oh? That's horrible! And no I haven't seen anything," Said Steve innocently. Aaron will kill that fucking bastard.

"Have you heard anything? There were reports of gunshots," said another voice.

"Um, no, I haven't actually. I'm sorry, I wish I could be more of a help. But people usually hunt around these parts," said Steve.

"That's fine, sir. Just call us with this number if anything comes up," said the pig. Good for nothing fucking assholes!

Aaron was about to walk down the stairs when hands came from behind him and dragged him back.

He didn't notice John coming behind them. Thankfully, Neil did notice.

Before John could hurt Aaron, Neil swung his knife at the man making him cry out.

Aaron's heart was beating so fast, that he almost didn't hear the voice downstairs asking, "what was that?" Then a gunshot. Then another gunshot, then another, and it kept going. It was so loud!

Aaron's ears started ringing. He heard screaming downstairs and something like _calling back-up_ and _taking cover_.

_'No,' thought Aaron, 'don't kill them, don't kill our only hope for getting out of this place alive.'_

Suddenly, he was aware that Neil was struggling with John, and the knife was thrown a few feet away from them.

Neil had one hand on John's chest to keep him away from him, and the other hand was pressed into John's good eye. The man screamed and stumbled back as blood came out of his eye.

Neil was having trouble standing up, but did it after a couple of tries.

Aaron has never admired something this much, Neil looked like a true fighter. A survivor.

Aaron shook away his thoughts and went to take the knife. Neil took it from him, and before Aaron could protest, Neil stabbed John through the heart. John was dead in seconds.

He then pulled the knife out and semi cleaned it on his pants. Aaron didn't know what to think, but he was glad one of them knew what he was doing.

They were about to go downstairs when the gunshots stopped, Neil held his hand out to stop Aaron from moving. Oh, for god's sake! Will they ever get out of this hellhole?

"Fucking pigs!" They heard Steve's voice.

Neil turned around so fast, held Aaron's wrist with his free hand and pulled them further into the house.

"They killed the cops. We need another way out. You need to hide, and I'll take care of the other two," Neil whispered as they continued walking through the house.

"No, We should stay together!" Aaron whispered back.

Neil's grip tightened around Aaron's wrist enough to hurt, but Aaron didn't pull his hand away.

"You need to listen to me, Aaron. This is the only way. _Take the knife and hide_."

They heard Mark's voice echoing throughout the house, "you can't hide from us!" And Steve's voice, "you killed two of my favorite friends, I think it's time for me to avenge them, also you made us kill all of those cops. I'll enjoy ending you!"

Aaron shook his head, "Neil. You need me!"

"You'll only slow me down. Now go hide," Neil whispered firmly as he thrusted the knife into Aaron's hands, and walked away in the opposite direction.

Aaron gripped the handle tightly and wondered why does Neil have to be a fucking martyr. He started walking in the opposite direction to where Neil's gone.

There were no places to hide! He went into three rooms already, and he was NOT about to hide under a bed so the fucking psychopaths could fucking drag him out by his feet like a horror movie cliché.

He heard the voices getting closer, and went into the next room he saw and closed the door and locked it quietly after him. It was another bedroom. He had three options: under the bed, in the closet, in the bathroom.

Aaron chose the closet, he went in there and closed it. It was organized by color like it wasn't a cannibalistic killer's closet.

Aaron looked around the closet and when his eyes met the ceiling, he saw a door. An attic. He got the small step stoop under the hangers and got on it to pull the door, it opened and a rope ladder fell down. He pushed the stool back to its place and started climbing.

When he got to the semi-dark attic, he pulled the ladder back and closed the door. Aaron took a deep breath and held the knife to his chest then exhaled.

After Aaron made sure no one was going to come for him for now, he turned to explore the attic for anything useful. A phone, please.

The attic wasn't that big so he almost instantly spotted the pictures on one of the walls, he squinted his eyes to see better and walked closer when he failed to see anything from his position.

There were tens of pictures of different people, men, women, small and big, young and old. Some were restrained, some were bleeding. These guys were fucking sick. He continued walking along the wall until he saw himself. And Neil. They were in the basement, both clearly passed out, with blood everywhere. Aaron shuddered then ripped the two pictures from the wall and shoved it down his pocket.

Aaron sat in the corner of the attic away from the wall with his knife ready to strike. He couldn't hear anything from downstairs.

Aaron hoped that Neil was fine, he almost smiled at the thought. Neil is always 'fine'.

He sighed, he really hoped Neil was Okay.

He now knows that Neil could obviously take care of himself, but he still had a small tugging in the bottom of his stomach telling him that he needed to help out. No, he needed to do what Neil told him to do.

Aaron had never seen him so... in charge? Leading? No, he was that in practices and games, he was the vice-captain and Dan was graduating this year. Maybe commanding. Aaron shook his head to get rid of these thoughts, he needed to focus on the job at hand.

About fifteen minutes passed in total silence, then he heard a loud bang, he jerked back involuntarily.

That wasn't a gunshot, no, someone just broke down the room door downstairs.

 

That was clearly not Neil. Dammit, someone found him. Aaron kept quiet, but his breathing was getting heavier and heavier.

The closet door creaked open, and he heard a small laugh—almost a giggle. Why did they have to be so fucking creepy, Aaron will never know.

"You shouldn't be up there, Blondie," Mark sing-songed from downstairs.

Aaron shivered. _Where was Neil?_

He hid behind a small wall as the door opened and he heard the man climb up the ladder, "you're gonna make me come up there? Fine."

Aaron tried to mask his irregular breathing, and readied himself to use his knife. He heard Mark pull himself up the attic and start walking around.

"You saw Steve's special wall? I personally don't mind it that much. But Steve loves keeping track of all his victims."

Aaron struck when he heard Mark was just behind the wall, he only cut his chin because of the height difference and how bad Aaron used the knife.

When he struck again, Mark was ready for him and held his hand before he could stab the man again, and smacked the wall with it. Aaron let go of the knife with a loud yelp.

"That's enough," said Mark holding Aaron's arm behind his back and walking to the door after he picked up the knife. Aaron went down first and was tempted to run but Mark was behind him again fast. "I can now see why he's the one trying to fight us, and you're the one hiding."

Aaron didn't struggle or reply as they passed the dining table and continued downstairs. Neil was still alive, Neil has to be alive, or he will be thoroughly fucked.

Mark seems to sense what was going on in his head because he said, "he's still alive, if that's what you're wondering. Not for long though."

When they got to the first floor, they went into the living room and Aaron was reminded of Baltimore.

Steve was standing over Neil who was laying on the floor. He had two black eyes and obviously multiple broken ribs, and possibly a broken left wrist because he was holding it with his right one to his chest, his face was bloodied but he was looking at Aaron like he was worried about his well being. Damn martyr.

Aaron ran to his side and sat down beside him.

" _Sorry, I couldn't take them out. They jumped me_." Said Neil in German. Aaron wanted to scream at him 'it isn't your fault, you idiot!' But couldn't because the idiot continued, " _there's a gun under that cop by the door, get it and hide it under your shirt, kill them before we get inside the car_."

Aaron just stared at Neil, he didn't know what to say but he didn't need to because Mark came from behind him and kicked him in the stomach. Aaron groaned in pain. Neil hissed at Mark.

Mark ignored both of them and turned to Steve, "we need to get out of this place, we killed two pigs! And there are probably more coming."

"First, we kill those two little fuckers," seethed Steve.

"There's no time, we'll take them with us!" Insisted Mark.

Steve seemed to be thinking about it, "OK. Get Blondie, I'll get the little shit. We're taking Zack's truck."

Mark breathed and nodded as Steve pulled Neil to his feet harshly, Neil screamed in agony but then bit his already bloody lip to silence himself.

Mark did the same to Aaron, and they walked to the front door where there was a cop's body with a gun sticking out from underneath.

Aaron looked at Neil, but the latter kept looking forward and struggling to walk with Steve behind him shoving him out the door and over the body, he kept letting out small noises in pain then biting his lip harder.

Aaron breathed out then faked tripping on the body, he quickly pulled the gun from underneath and put it under his pants and covered it with the shirt as Mark hauled him back up with, "watch where you're going, lil Blondie."

Aaron was going to show him what a little Blondie could do, even though he never touched a gun before, he knew this wasn't the time for doubts.

Aaron needed to save Neil and himself.

Once they were out of the house, Aaron waited for the perfect moment to pull out the gun.

When Steve and Neil were in front of him walking to the truck, and Mark behind him holding his shoulder, he elbowed Mark in his stomach and took a few steps away from him, then pulled the gun, hoped it was loaded, and pulled the trigger.

Mark screamed in anguish as the bullet collided with his side, he fell to the ground.

Aaron turned to Steve and Neil. Steve was holding Neil like a shield from Aaron, "drop the gun, and I won't hurt your friend here."

Aaron could still hear Mark crying out but he ignored him and continued to stare at Steve who was walking backwards with Neil still in front of him looking tired, and stumbling slightly.

"Don't move!" Yelled Aaron. 

Steve stopped moving, "you can't shoot me and not hurt your friend," He laughed. "You don't want to do that, do you?"

Aaron swallowed, what's he supposed to do now?

"Aaron _, the other one is getting away_ ," drawled Neil in German.

Aaron turned to look at Mark who was holding his side and running to the woods. He looked back at Steve who was smirking.

"So what's it gon' be, kid?" Asked Steve.

Aaron didn't know. He needed to do something. He wasn't a good shot. For god's sake he was aiming for Mark's head, and he shot his side instead!

''Aaron," said Neil then continued in German, " _stop shaking, and take a deep breath._ "

Aaron didn't even know he was shaking, " _what should I do_?" He didn't like how lost and tiny his voice sounded.

" _Shoot_ ," said Neil like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world.

" _I'll kill you_!" Said Aaron raising his voice.

" _I've been shot before_ , Aaron. _Just aim for my right shoulder, I won't die_ ," Said Neil like he was talking about the fucking weather.

Aaron was tempted to shoot him in the head.

" _Are you crazy? I'm NOT_ -" Aaron was cut off by Neil screaming "- _JUST FUCKING SHOOT_!"

Aaron pulled the trigger without even realizing it until he heard the shot.

He opened his eyes—when did he even close them?—And saw both Neil and Steve on the ground with Neil on top of the older man.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few more chapters to go!


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys we’re almost finished with this story, just two more chapters!  
> i already have the next chapter and it’ll be fluffy and kinda humorous (i tried), with dorky aaron andrew and katelyn trying to flirt with guards, and the rest of the foxes being a badass family!  
> btw, i didn’t know neil’s blood type so i just gave him mine lol
> 
> TW: nothing for this one except Angst.

Aaron ran to Neil, he was not bleeding from his right shoulder, but his _left_! He just fucking shot his friend and brother's boyfriend!

Neil had his eyes open and his right hand holding his left shoulder trying to stop the bleeding, "I clearly remember saying right shoulder."

Fucking smart-ass, even when he's fucking bleeding!

"I...I just shot you?" Aaron was clearly in shock.

"Yes. Now let's get out of this hell and go see our family," Neil smiled up at him.

Aaron helped him up to his feet after some struggling, Neil was leaning all his weight (not much, he'll have to tell him when they're better) on Aaron, he didn't mind.

"Don't forget to bring the gun," Neil said as they started walking. Aaron didn't even know he dropped it. He picked it up, and put it in his pants. And put his hand on Neil's back.

Aaron thought he knew his way back to the camp, but apparently not. The sun was raising and they were very much lost, and Neil is starting to stumble and his breathing is becoming faster with each step.

"Neil, stay with me."

Neil laughed quietly, "I'm still here," he continued, "have you ever thought you'd say something like this to me?"

Aaron allowed himself a small laugh and shook his head. At that moment, Neil stumbled and fell to the ground with Aaron going down with him.

"Neil, please!" Aaron begged, he wasn't going to let Neil go now! No way in hell. Aaron could admit, he was still so fucking scared. And he couldn't—wouldn't—let Neil die after all he did to save them.

"Relax. I'm just tired," said Neil closing his eyes.

"Maybe.. um.. maybe we should take a break. We've been walking for a while now?" Aaron didn't know what he was asking, but he was scared, completely and utterly petrified.

Neil nodded. Aaron sat properly with Neil's upper body on his lap. Aaron took off his shirt and pressed it to Neil's wound. Neil whimpered.

"Open your eyes, you idiot," Said Aaron. "Think of Andrew!"

Neil smiled and opened his eyes, "Andrew... he's gonna kill... us"

"Talk for yourself, he'll definitely kill you. You're always getting yourself in troubles," argued Aaron.

Neil laughed quietly then coughed. Aaron knew what dying looked like, and he really didn't want Neil to go. He won't allow it.

"Are.. are you cryin'?" Asked Neil smiling, "n'ver thought you.. liked me that.. much."

Aaron wiped his eyes, "I'm not crying, you're crying!"

Neil laughed and coughed again, "Kevin.. is also gon' kill me."

"If you talk about Exy right now, I swear to god, Josten," warned Aaron. They needed to move or they'll be dead, Aaron didn't have the heart to tell Neil though, who clearly was not going to be able to walk right now. "And basically everyone is gonna kill you." Neil closed his eyes again, "Neil."

"Awake. Tired." said Neil still closing his eyes, words slurred together.

Aaron took a deep breath and thought that it was time to bring out the big guns—not the bad ones though, "Neil, you'll be the captain of palmetto state foxes' Exy team in 4 months, thoughts?"

Neil grinned and open his eyes halfway, "like it.. very.. much. Gon' win... everythin'"

"Well, I think that Andrew is gonna have an unfair advantage, since his boyfriend is the captain. He won't even bother coming to practice," said Aaron, combining the two things that he knows Neil will talk about for hours.

"'drew can.. do what 'drew wants," Neil shook his head then grimaced and whimpered, "I'll kick.. his ass.. if he skips practice.. though"

Aaron laughed, "I'd pay to see that,"

Neil opened his eyes and looked at Aaron, Aaron was going to strangle him if he said something like 'his last words' or 'please tell Andrew that I loved him.'

Thankfully, he didn't say any of that stuff, instead he asked, "do.. you hear that?"

Aaron heard nothing, "what?"

"Dogs. Barking," Neil said smiling and closing his eyes.

Aaron didn't hear anything, he looked down at Neil. Is this a hallucination? Is he seeing stuff too? No no no.

"Aaron... let's not.. tell 'drew.. 'bout.. who shot me. Say.. Steve."

Aaron looked at him, he didn't think of that, Neil smiled up at him. Always the fucking martyr.

Then Aaron heard it, there were dogs barking. They found them! They found them! Finally!

"Help! Help! We're here!" Screamed Aaron.

"Shoot... up.." groaned Neil, it took him a moment to understand. When he did, he took out the gun and kept shooting upward until he heard a click.

Aaron screamed a "here!" as he saw five figures emerge from the trees to their right.

"Neil! They found us, look!" Exclaimed Aaron looking at the first figure who was clearly a forest ranger with a dog on a leash, followed by Abby, Dan, Katelyn, and Nicky!

They ran towards them and Aaron almost screamed from the pleasant sight. He felt so tired right then like all he wants to do is sleep, just sleep for at least a few days.

That made him remember Neil, and he looked down at him, "Neil! Are you still with me?!" Silence, "Neil! Don't do this, please!"

Abby sat down in front of him, and moved Neil so he's lying on the ground.

"He was just talking to me!" Aaron kept his shaking hand on Neil's injured shoulder. How could he look away from his dying friend?

The one who got him out of that hellhole!

"Aaron, you need to let me do my job," Said Abby firmly.

There were hands on his shoulders and back, he shrugged them off, "you don't understand! He was just talking to me, I looked away for a moment. Just one fucking moment!"

"Baby, please stop crying!" The hands on his back returned and he turned to see Katelyn crying.

Katelyn hugged him tightly, and then he stopped crying. Nicky and Dan were sitting beside him crying too. Nicky hugged him after Katelyn let go of him, but she still held his hand.

"He's alive. But needs immediate medical attention!" Said Abby opening her medical kit.

"The medics are on their way right now, ma'am," Said the ranger, talking to his walkie-talkie.

Abby started cleaning the wound while sniffing, "Who did this?"

Aaron kept staring at Neil, he looked so.. Aaron didn't know exactly. Maybe it's peaceful? No, he's covered in his blood and the blood of other people he killed. If Aaron didn't know any better, he'd think Neil was just a helpless little boy. A victim and nothing more.

"Aaron?" Said Nicky as Katelyn's hand tightened around his. He dragged his stare at them.

"What?" Asked Aaron returning his gaze to Neil and Abby. She was wrapping his wound with bandages, "let me help you."

"No, sweetie. Are you OK?" Said Abby without looking from Neil.

"I need to help him to," insisted Aaron. "I have to."

"What about you, baby? Are you OK?" Asked Katelyn moving his head to look at her.

"I'm fine," Is that how Neil feels when he says that? Like shit. He sat up straight and turned to look at Abby. "Besides the obvious, he has multiple broken ribs, possible fractured left wrist. He had a mild concussion a few.... hours ago? When he woke up. Multiple cuts in the abdomen area, they seemed shallow, but I don't know. Fork stab wounds in his right hand."

Everyone was looking at him with shock in their eyes until Abby nodded and moved on to work on Neil's stomach.

"Who did this to you?" Asked Dan.

Aaron sighed, "dead men."

He heard the ranger talking on his walkie-talkie about what he just said but he ignored him.

"What's _your_ damage?" Abby asked him.

"Besides the obvious? possible bruised ribs and four removed finger nails," Said Aaron.

He heard Katelyn take a sharp intake of air and Nicky choke out, "what?"

Abby looked at him then nodded and handed him a bottle of clear liquid "use this on your hand."

He poured the liquid on his fingers and hissed at the sting of pain.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Aaron!" said Dan with her hand covering her mouth.

Katelyn gripped his shoulder tightly.

They soon heard another dog barking and another group came from the other side of the woods.

"Is that the ambulance?" Asked Abby without looking from where she was tending to Neil's left wrist.

"No. It's Andrew," said Nicky sounding troubled.

Aaron looked up so fast to see his brother running towards them with Kevin, Renee, Matt, Allison, and coach trailing behind him.

Dan and Nicky moved to stand away from Aaron and Neil, Katelyn was doing the same until he held her wrist to stop her. Even Abby moved a little so she was sitting next to Neil's thigh instead of his shoulder, and she continued wrapping his stomach.

Andrew dropped to his knees right in front of Aaron, so Neil was between the two twins.

"He's alive," said Aaron sensing his brother's panic.

"I'll kill him when he wakes up anyways," Said Andrew with an expressionless face but his voice betrayed him sounding hoarse.

Andrew looked down at Neil after he looked Aaron over, and something in his eyes flashed, it was anger and something else that Aaron never associated with his brother, not before they met Neil anyway.

"Who did this?" Andrew asked lightly touching Neil's face with his shaking hand as he looks at Abby's hands like he wants to rip them off for touching Neil. Aaron knew that Andrew would do it if he didn't think that Neil needed her right now.

"Four men, three of them are already dead, the last one on his way to be, if he's not already," Answered Aaron.

Andrew said something quietly to Neil's ear in Russian, then sat up and looked at Abby with a raised eyebrow.

"Is he... is he going to be okay?" Asked Matt from where he was standing next to Dan.

"I stopped the bleeding, so he'll be fine once we get him to a hospital," said Abby looking at Andrew.

"Please move away from the victim so we could do our job," Said a voice behind them, Aaron could see Andrew tense as the medics come to sit on each side on Neil.

"His name is Neil," said Aaron as he glared at the medic.

The medic nodded, and Abby started telling them Neil's condition.

"Minyard, let them do their job," Coach said.

Aaron didn't known which twin he was talking to but he moved away slightly, Andrew on the other hand, didn't dignify that with a reply, and kept glaring at the medics and watching them with a careful eye, waiting for a mistake.

They put an oxygen mask on Neil and an IV, then moved him on the stretcher.

A medic came to Aaron, "let me have a look at you."

He nodded and gave her his hands while he still looked at Neil and Andrew.

He heard her work, and felt the occasional pain, then she wrapped it up again. "What else hurts?"

"Possible bruised ribs," said Aaron without looking at her.

"Can you move?" Asked the medic.

Aaron rolled his eyes, "yes."

"OK. You're coming in the ambulance with us," said the medic. He nodded and got up.

It hurt so fucking bad. The medic was by his side immediately, but he waved her off.

Andrew was by Neil's side walking along the stretcher, with everyone trailing behind them, and murmuring worriedly.

They heard both rangers' walkie-talkies say, ' _medics needed. We found a man with a gunshot wound to the side. He's unconscious but still breathing. Over._ '

Andrew stopped briefly then continued walking, he looked at Aaron with a raised eyebrow. Aaron nodded.

' _What's your location? Over_ ,' One of the rangers said. The other side told them the place and the ranger replied with sending another ambulance to the scene.

When they got out of the woods, there was an ambulance waiting for them, and multiple cars.

The medics put the stretcher inside and Andrew followed it. Aaron after him.

Coach came to stand by the door, "we'll meet you in the hospital."

Neither twin did anything to respond, Wymack sighed and said something about 'stubborn assholes' that both twins ignored.

Katelyn came to stand next to coach, "I would go with you but I don't think I can fit in there," She smiled and reached for Aaron's hand "I'll see you at the hospital."

"Okay," Said Aaron smiling back at her.

Katelyn kissed his hand with tears filling her eyes, none fell.

"I'm okay, I promise," said Aaron touching her face. He never wants to see tears in Katelyn's face, and he especially never wants to be the reason for them being there.

"We need to leave," Said the medic.

Katelyn let go of his hand and smiled and mouthed 'at the hospital'. Aaron nodded.

They closed the doors and the ambulance drove off.

The medic was stitching Neil's stomach wounds. He looked at Andrew who was glaring at her and clenching his hands. Aaron wanted to say something to his brother, but didn't know what. And besides, Andrew wouldn't care what he has to say anyway.

He just felt so guilty for shooting Neil, he almost told Andrew the truth. But he knew that he'll be dead before he closed his mouth.

" _What's the guy's name?_ " Asked Andrew in German.

" _The one that they'd found? Mark_ ," answered Aaron.

" _Is he the one who did this to him?_ " said Andrew.

" _Some of it, I think. I was passed out for a lot of it_ ," said Aaron. " _The one who did most of the damage is dead though_."

Neil stirred and made a small noise, Andrew got closer to him and said firmly, "Abram."

The medic finished her work and wrapped the stomach after cleaning it again.

"Sir?" She asked Neil, moving the mask from Neil's face. Neil's eyelashes started fluttering like he was trying to open them.

"Abram," Andrew repeated.

Neil opened his eyes slowly, "'drew?" His voice sounded scratchy and small. And he looked pale and tired.

"I'm here," said Andrew tapping Neil's forehead twice. Neil smiled slightly.

"Aaron?" Neil asked.

"Here," answered Aaron rolling his eyes. It felt like he was in class and Neil was taking attendance.

"How are you?" Neil's voice sounded weak.

He wanted to say 'fine' but he didn't want Andrew to kill anyone today, "I'm okay."

"What time is it?" Asked Neil trying to move on the stretcher.

The medic held him, "don't move, sir."

Neil flinched away from the touch and Andrew took the medic's hand and gripped it tightly, "don't. Touch. Him." He threatened.

The medic tried to pull her hand away but Andrew held it tighter until she nodded, then he let go.

"It's 7:30," Said Andrew looking back down at Neil who had his eyes closed again, "Abram."

No respond. Andrew clenched his hand, and touched Neil's forehead and brushed his hair back.

The medic returned the oxygen mask carefully looking at Andrew the whole time. She then turned to Aaron, "let me see you."

She pressed her hands firmly to Aaron's stomach and pushed. Aaron took a sharp intake of air and bit his lip.

"We'll do an x-ray at the hospital, but I think it's only a bruise," said the medic, "like you said."

The car stopped and the doors opened shortly after. The medics moved the stretcher out and started talking about Neil as they walked into the hospital with Andrew and Aaron beside them.

Nurses and doctors moved to Neil's side as the medic told them his condition. They nodded along.

"He needs to go to surgery immediately," Said one of the doctors, "we need two bags of—sir, do you know his blood type?"

"A+," answered Andrew immediately.

The doctor nodded and kept moving with the nurses moving the bed through a 'no entry' doors. Andrew went to follow but was stopped by the security guard.

"No entry," the guard said with a monotone voice.

Andrew growled at him but retreated next to Aaron, looking at him all over again, assessing the damage.

Another nurse came to the two brothers, "we'll update you on the surgery soon but first we need to have a look at you."

Aaron nodded and followed the nurse to a small room.

~

When Aaron got out of the examination room, the foxes and Katelyn were already in the waiting room.

Katelyn came to him as soon as she spotted him, "what did they say?"

"Just bruised, they gave me a prescription," Aaron answered her, and the rest of the foxes and his brother who was looking at him.

"What about your hand?"

"The doctor said the nails will grow back in about 6 months," Aaron said. He was relieved to know that. He didn't know he was actually worried about that.

When he first lost them, the thoughts of survival, life and death were all that he can think about, but when he was in the doctor's office—away from the threat of dying—he realized just how much he worried.

"That's good, baby," Katelyn said hugging him tightly—Aaron ignored the slight pain from his ribs—then whispered, “I was so scared, I thought I'd lose-" she choked a bit.

"Hey," Aaron said, holding her away to look at her tear stained face, "I'm right here, I'm OK."

She nodded, and hugged him again.

Nicky came to him, tears on his face, and biting his lip, "we were so worried!"

Katelyn pulled away to give Nicky the space to hug Aaron. Aaron hugged his cousin back.

When they parted, Aaron looked around the room but didn't find Andrew. Looks like he slipped out when Katelyn was hugging him.

"Go talk to him," Katelyn said, wiping her tears. Nicky looked skeptical but nodded too.

Aaron nodded and walked out of the waiting room.

It seems like Neil was still in surgery, and Andrew was getting more antsy and angry by the look of how he was clenching his hands and glaring at the doors Neil went through.

Aaron sighed and walked to his brother.

Andrew spared him a glance, "I thought you were still sucking face with your cheerleader."

Aaron gasped, "first, I was not 'sucking face' with her, she only hugged me. Second, that's rich coming from you."

Andrew raised an eyebrow, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, you and Neil can't keep your hands to yourselves, and you know it."

Andrew's eyes darkened, and he didn't say anything else.

Aaron swallowed thickly, maybe he shouldn't have brought up Neil right now.

"I'm worried about hi-" Aaron started.

"Don't," warned Andrew, "don't pretend like you care."

"I do!" Aaron exclaimed, "if it weren't for him, I'd probably be dead right now."

Andrew's shoulders tensed, then relaxed.

Aaron sighed, "so yes, I do care what happens to Neil."

The two stayed in silence, but it wasn't bad. Way better than the silence that was between them freshman year.

They were leaning on the wall when two male nurses walked in front of them, speaking to each other.

"I just think it's crazy that the cops would bring him here when his victims are in the same hospital, are they looking for more trouble?" one of the nurses said as the two were going around the corner.

Andrew listened in interest, trailing after the two. Aaron followed his brother.

"Where were they supposed to take him?" the other nurse asked, "this is the closest hospital to the forest, he could've died on the way to another one."

"He'd deserve it, I mean have you heard what he did?" the first nurse shuddered.

So they were obviously talking about Mark. Looking at Andrew, he seemed to have a plan already.

The two nurses went into the ICU.

Andrew and Aaron stopped because there was another guard standing beside the door.

"What're we gonna do?" asked Aaron.

Andrew looked at him, " _we_ are not doing anything. I'm gonna take care of him."

Aaron knew not to object when Andrew was like this. Determined, angry, and out for vengeance. So he only nodded, "I'll distract the guard, then."

Andrew sneered, "I don't need your help."

"Oh? How are you gonna waltz inside?" Aaron asked, "you're gonna go knives out? Well, good luck with that, they'll kick you out before you step in his room. And this place is already crawling with pigs," Aaron continued, "you need me."

Andrew growled at his brother, but Aaron stood his grounds. If Andrew did this alone, he'll surly get himself arrested, and Neil would need him when he wakes up.

"Fine," Andrew said, expressionless again, "you distract the guard and cops and I'll slit that bastard's throat for what he did."

Aaron stared wide eyed, "can you think of another less-incriminating way to end him?"

Andrew rolled his eyes, "just do your job."

Aaron glared at Andrew and huffed, "fine."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me what you think, what you wanna/think is gonna happen, or just your favorite song atm!
> 
> btw, i posted this with my phone so if you see something (mistakes) say something (nicely pls)


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: murder, one (1) forced cannibalism mention.

"So, um, you come here often?" Aaron asked the ICU guard. He was nervous and didn't know how to distract the woman.

The guard gave him a puzzled look, "I work here, so yes, I do come here often."

Aaron could feel the heat on his face from the embarrassment, it also doesn't help that Andrew was standing nearby, looking at him, utterly unimpressed.

"I.. do not?" Aaron asked, confused at his own words.

"Well, I would hope you don't come to the hospital often," the guard said. "Look I'm working at the moment so I can't talk."

She returned to her post. Dammit!

Aaron returned to Andrew.

"I'll distract the guard, he said," Andrew said sarcastically.

Aaron glared, face burning red, "I'm trying my best here!"

"'Do you come here often'?" Andrew continued, "you're pathetic. I'm going in."

"What're you doing?" Aaron whispered as Andrew made his way to the guard.

"Look and see how distracting someone works," Andrew said behind his back.

No, Aaron wouldn't want to witness a murder at the moment, thankyouverymuch!

To his surprise, Andrew didn't pull his knives, but _smiled_ at the guard. Well, an Andrew smile, if that even counted as a smile.

"Hey-" Andrew was cut off by the guard.

"-You again?" she huffed. "Look, kid, I'm not interested. And honestly, it's kind of offensive to hit on a female guard on duty."

Aaron spluttered, blushing fiercely, she thought Aaron was flirting with her? Oh god.

Andrew on the other hand, was glaring at the guard, like he was offended that the guard assumed he was straight and confused him with Aaron.

Aaron came quickly to the two and dragged Andrew away from the woman before he really killed her. He could hear her, confusedly asking, 'there're two of you?'

Andrew shrugged him off when the two were behind the corner, growling. "You ruined it."

"Oh really? You mean to tell me she was going to let you in?"

Andrew huffed, "well, it's your fault for going first."

Aaron had to get pay back from Andrew for making fun of him, "look and see how distracting someone works, he said." Aaron smirked at the glare he received.

"I only said one word."

"Well, what're we gonna do now?"

"There's only one option left," Andrew said, fingers brushing his armband.

"No," Aaron interrupted. "I still have one more idea." Andrew raised an eyebrow but remained silent. Aaron continued, "Just wait here, I'll be back."

Aaron walked fast—careful not to draw attention to himself—to the waiting room.

When he walked inside, everyone looked at him.

"We thought the monster killed you," said Allison.

"Andrew wouldn't do that," said Renee.

"What happened?" Nicky asked.

"Nothing," Aaron lied.

"You're not as good a liar as Josten, Minyard, so spit it out," Wymack looked tired. "What did you and Andrew do?"

"Why would you assume the worst in us?" Aaron asked, not as convincing as he'd hoped. "Ugh, I just need Katelyn."

Katelyn came to him, with a question in her eyes.

"If something goes wrong, I'll know it's the two of you," coach Wymack sighed loudly and sat back in his chair.

Aaron intertwined the fingers in his good hand with Katelyn's fingers and walked out of the waiting room.

"I need your help, baby. It's life or death," Aaron said as the two walked to the ICU.

Katelyn looked confused but nodded understandingly. God, he loved her.

"What do you need me to do?" she asked earnestly.

"Distract the ICU guard," Aaron explained, embarrassed. "I tried but.. it didn't go as planned. And if you don't do it, Andrew will go inside with force."

She nodded.

As they neared the ICU, Aaron saw that Andrew was still in the same place he left him but he looked like he was running out of patience.

Andrew glared when he saw the two of them, "what is she doing here?"

"She is going to help," Aaron glared back.

Andrew laughed, humorlessly, "oh? Is she prepared to be accomplice to murder?"

Katelyn tensed, and looked at Aaron. "Murder?" Aaron was about to explain, when Katelyn continued, "Is it one of the men that hurt you?"

Aaron nodded. Katelyn's eyes darkened, and Aaron had never saw her like this before. 

She walked past the twins and to the guard, "hello," she smiled her cheerleader smile, the smile a little wobbly.

"Hey," the guard smiled back. "How can I help you?"

"I.. honestly don't know.. my boyfriend just broke up with me," Katelyn choked up. "I.. don't know why? And why here, when my mom is in surgery?"

Aaron stared, shocked, at his girlfriend, fake crying.

The guard's eyebrows drew together, "Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry about your mother, but that asshole doesn't deserve you," she touched Katelyn's shoulders.

Katelyn wiped her tear, "I mean is it because I came out to him as bi?"

The guard's eyes widened, "if that's the reason, he's even more of an asshole than I thought!"

Andrew snorted beside Aaron, who was still in shock at how good of an actress Katelyn was.

"She's a lesbian, of course. How bad of the good little cheerleader to use that against her," Andrew said, sounding vaguely impressed.

"What? How do you know?" Aaron asked. Was the guard trying to make a move on his girlfriend? Aaron glared at her from his spot in the corner.

Andrew sighed, "it's just too obvious."

Aaron squinted his eyes, like he'd see better.

"You know, you're too beautiful to cry about some worthless guy," the guard wrapped her hands around Katelyn's waist. "How about I get you something warm to drink?"

Katelyn nodded sweetly, "you're really nice."

The guard smiled back, "there's a fancy coffee machine in the doctors' lounge, how about I show you?"

Katelyn acted interested (was she acting? Aaron wondered. He'll have to talk with her later), "wow, really? I'd love to!"

The guard walked to the other direction with Katelyn in her arm. Aaron wondered if this was a good idea after all.

"Well, it looks like the cheerleader is good for something after all," Andrew said walking to the now unguarded ICU.

"Hey! She's good at a lot of things," Aaron defended his girlfriend.

Andrew didn't answer as the two walked into the ICU.

In was so cold and quiet, the only thing to be heard were the faint beeping of machines and light footsteps.

"Where are we gonna find his room, now?" whispered Aaron following Andrew around.

Andrew stopped in a corner and pointed at a door with two police officers talking by it.

"How are we gonna distract them?"

Andrew glared at him, "distracting is your job, killing is mine."

Aaron frowned, "I thought we made it clear that I suck at distracting."

"Well, cops don't exactly love me," Andrew said sarcastically.

"Where's Katelyn when you need her?" Aaron whispered to himself.

Andrew huffed, amused, "probably kissing that guard by the _fancy coffee machine_ in the doctor' lounge."

"… You really think so?" asked Aaron. Katelyn would never cheat on him. Right?

Andrew huffed again, not amused anymore, "I was joking."

"Oh, yeah, cause that's normal."

Andrew glared but stayed silent, looking around for something to distract the cops with. He cursed when he noticed something behind them.

Aaron looked back, confused, and found six very familiar people walking toward them, not so quiet in the dead quiet hallway.

"What the fuck are they doing here?" asked Andrew, walking toward the foxes. Aaron had the same question.

Andrew intercepted their way, and opened a door to their left and walked inside. It was a break room and thankfully, it was empty.

The team followed him.

Allison sat on the high chair, legs crossed. Dan and Matt remained standing in front of Andrew and Aaron. Kevin went to the cabinet, looking for something. Nicky and Renee sat down on the couch.

When (almost) the whole team was inside, Andrew glared at everyone of them, "what the fuck are you doing here?"

"Yeah, and how did you escape coach?" Aaron asked, bewildered that Wymack would let them leave when he knew his troublemakers of a team.

Dan stepped forward, "well, we went out one by one to make it seem less suspicious."

"And we kinda followed Aaron and Katelyn here," Matt continued nervously.

"Oooh! And we saw Katelyn leave with that butch guard. I didn't know Katelyn was bi but good for her!" Nicky said enthusiastically. Aaron glared at him.

"It was an act!"

"Are you _sure_ about that, shortie?" asked Allison, looking uninterested about anything. Aaron glared harder.

"Hey guys, I found Vodka!" exclaimed Kevin from the cupboard area. "Looks like doctors actually drink while they're on the clock... Don't blame 'em."

Aaron could feel Andrew boiling with rage beside him.

"You didn't answer the question, why are you here?" Aaron asked Dan before his brother exploded.

"Well, we want to help."

"Are you crazy?" Aaron asked, "you wanna help kill someone?"

"It sounds horrible when you put it like that," said Matt.

"It _is_ horrible!"

"You're here too, aren't you?" Allison interrupted them, dramatically standing up. "Besides, we're not gonna get out hands dirty. The monster will pull the plug, we're just here for the moral support."

Andrew looked at Renee, "you too?"

"Well, I can't say I agree with what you have to do, but I get it. You have to do it," Renee answered. "I came to stop anything from going wrong."

Andrew huffed loudly, and walked to Kevin and pulled the Vodka bottle from his hands, chugging it.

"How heartwarming, you're all willing to get dirty for Neil's sake but-"

Aaron was cut off by Allison shaking her head, walking to Dan and Matt. "You really are an oblivious idiot, maybe even more than Neil."

"We're not here just for Neil, but for you too," Renee smiled, coming to stand by the other upperclassmen.

Aaron raised an eyebrow, shocked, and not believing.

"You're a part of the team, Aaron, which means you're also a part of the family, whether you like it or not," smirked Dan, hands on her hips, in her 'Captain Pose', with Matt nodding beside her.

Aaron rolled his eyes, trying to look nonchalant as Nicky came to wrap his arm around his shoulder, "ugh, that's so cheesy, stop. Back to what I was actually saying, we have a problem."

"What?" Nicky asked.

"There are two cops guarding Mark's room, so we can't get inside."

"Mark? Is that the guy's name?"

Aaron nodded, trying not to think of everything he and Neil went through, not right now. Not ever, hopefully.

The team started thinking of ways to get inside undetected. They were coming up empty by the look of it.

"How about we do it B99 style?" asked Kevin from where he was trying to get the bottle back from Andrew. The whole team stared at him, he blushed. "What? I watch things other than Exy!"

"Shocking," Allison teased.

"Ugh! Forget I said anything!"

"No! Allison shut up!" Nicky exclaimed. "Mark this Day in history, ladies and gents, he actually _is_ a real human like the rest of us, and enjoys watching Brooklyn nine-nine." Nicky giggled at his own joke.

Aaron rolled his eyes and slipped out of Nicky's arm, "I hate to say this, but this is genius, Kevin."

Kevin glared at him, grumbling.

Andrew put the bottle on the table and walked to a side door in the break room, opening it.

It was a closet, and inside it were a bunch of scrubs, white coats, gloves, and surgical masks.

"I call the pink scrubs!" Nicky shouted. The team shushed him.

"This isn't a fucking dress up game," Andrew glared at Nicky, then the rest of the obviously excited team. "We're going in to Kill someone. And if you get in my way, you have the same fate."

Tension fell on the people in the room.

"We get it," Allison said, walking forward to the closet. "If we didn't, we wouldn't be here."

The rest of the team nodded.

Andrew and Allison were the first to take scrubs and moved away for the rest of the team.

Aaron just took the smallest one, and walked away. Andrew was in the bathroom so he just started changing in the corner.

The scrub was green, slightly bigger than him, but not too noticeable.

He looked around the room to find Allison in yellow scrubs, Renee and Nicky in pink ones, Dan and Matt in blue.

"There's only pink left!" Kevin pouted, glaring at the team. "It was my idea, I get the blue or green ones!"

Nicky squealed, "OMG, Kevin in pink? Sign me the fuck up!"

Kevin groaned and started changing in the closet.

Meanwhile, Andrew walked out of the bathroom, in green scrubs and a doctor's coat, his hair was covered by a green band, a mask covered his nose and mouth, and he had a stethoscope around his neck.

"Wow, Dr. monster," Allison smirked.

Andrew ignored her and handed Aaron a mask. Aaron put it on.

They were all done, and waiting on Kevin.

"So what's the plan?" asked Dan, in her white coat.

"We go in, pull the plug, and go out, if all goes well," Aaron answered.

"But don't we have to worry about the heart monitor?" asked Matt.

"We'll act as if we're from the medical staff," Aaron said, unconvinced in his plan.

"Some of you will wait outside," Andrew said. "Distract the cops and slip away when the heart monitor goes off."

"OK," Dan nodded.

"I wanna distract the cops!" Nicky volunteered.

"They're not gonna be gay, Nicky."

"You don't know that!"

"Nicky, you stay outside," Andrew said. Nicky stuck his tongue out at Aaron.

Aaron rolled his eyes at his childish cousin.

"Isn't Kevin gonna come out of the closet?" asked Matt.

Nicky sighed, "it takes time, buddy. I know the feeling."

"Um, I mean it literally," Matt pointed at the closed closet where Kevin was still inside.

"Oh! Well, I stand by what I said."

"Guys! I can hear you," Kevin said behind the door. "Also, I'm not coming out in this!"

"Come on!"

"I look ridiculous!"

"Get off your high horse, Day."

"What's that even mean?"

"Day, get out now, or we're leaving you," Andrew threatened, reaching the end of his straw.

"Ugh, fine! Don't laugh," Kevin walked out in his pink scrubs. It was tight on him. Aaron snorted. Allison laughed.

"I'm so gay," Nicky whispered.

Kevin crossed his hands, making the shirt tighter, and pouted, "let's just get this over with."

"I think Kevin should stay outside, distract the cops," Allison laughed. "They could be gay after all."

Kevin glared at her, "I'm going in."

She shrugged and the team exited the break room.

They separated to look less suspicious.

"Doctor," Allison greeted a passing doctor, the doctor nodded at her. The rest of the team stared at her, she smirked, "confidence gets you everything, watch and learn guys." 

Nicky, Allison, and Renee stayed behind to talk to the cops while the remaining five went inside the room.

The guy inside—Mark—was laying on the bed, cuffed to the posts, and had his eyes closed.

Aaron was struck with a flashback of him shooting the older man, of his pained screams, then him shooting Neil. Aaron shuddered, shaking away the thoughts.

The five stared at him for a while, until Andrew stepped forward to stand by the bed, looking down at the man with unfathomable rage and hatred.

"Andrew, do it," Dan said from the end of the bed.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Kevin.

Aaron knew what his brother was waiting for. He wouldn't kill him in his sleep, no, that'll be too merciful.

Andrew shook the older man roughly until his eyes slowly opened, "d-doctor?"

"Think again, bitch," answered Andrew taking off his mask, a familiar manic grin on his face.

Aaron stared at his brother, he never thought he'd see Andrew like this again.

"Wha-" Mark squinted at Andrew. "You're.. you're the blondie that shot me.."

"Not quite," Andrew laughed, unnaturally.

The four foxes shuddered at the sight. Andrew looked like when he did while he was medicated, and that was not a Fun Andrew.

Mark's eyes roamed around the room, passing Kevin, Matt and Dan, and landing on Aaron. Aaron swallowed thickly. Why was he shaking? The man was handcuffed, he can't hurt him anymore.

Mark looked between Andrew and Aaron, confused. "Wha-"

Andrew cut him off, "don't look so stupid. This is my brother, Aaron, the one you tortured, you don't even know his name? do you know the other one's name?"

"I- redhead?"

"Sarcastic shit. His name is Neil, and he's in surgery right now. Because of you."

Mark looked like he finally understood what was going on, his eyes frantic. "I'm sorry- Steve made me do it-"

Andrew shushed him, hand over mouth, "no one forced you to do the things you did, and now you're gonna die for it."

"Please!"

"I hate that word," smirked Andrew, pulling the pillow from underneath Mark.

Aaron didn't understand what Andrew was trying to do. Until he saw him.

Andrew pushed the pillow on Mark's face, smothering him, as the man struggled underneath him.

"Andrew!" Dan whisper shouted, "what are you doing?!"

"What you think I'm doing, captain?" laughed Andrew. "I'm getting my hands dirty, just like you wanted. Or did you think there's a plug you could pull and everything will go smoothly?"

Aaron had to admit that he thought there was actually a plug, too. The heart monitor was spiking frantically. Aaron quickly unplugged it.

Matt and Dan turned around to look the other way, as Andrew continued to suffocate the man, who was still struggling.

God, how long was it gonna take?

A few minutes later, Mark stopped struggling but Andrew didn't stop the pressure he had on the pillow. Mark's feet shook slightly, then stopped.

Finally, Andrew stopped, and pulled the pillow, putting it under Mark's head.

He turned to the rest of them, "get out and tell the rest to get the cops as away from the door as possible and run away."

"What are you gonna do?" asked Aaron. While the others were still staring at the dead man, obviously shaken. Idiots, if they couldn't handle it, they shouldn't have come with. Aaron hated the fact that the sight didn't affect him anymore. 

"I'll plug the heart monitor back," Andrew answered. 

Aaron nodded, understanding, and turned to the other three, ushering them to the door.

Thankfully, the four walked out undetected, and Aaron told Renee what Andrew asked.

Aaron and his group walked to the ICU doors. Aaron hoped that Katelyn was still distracting the guard.

"What about our clothes?" asked Kevin.

"Allison put them in her bag," Dan whispered, still shaken. "She'll get it with her when she gets out."

Matt was walking beside her, like a zombie. Kevin looked better, already used to these things, Aaron bet.

The four walked out of the ICU, with no guard in sight. Aaron will have to thank Katelyn later.

The group went to stand by the bathroom to wait for the others. They stayed silent, until they saw rainbow hair walking toward them, ten minutes later.

Renee had Allison's bag with her, and wearing her dress.

"What happened?" asked Dan, worriedly.

"Nothing went wrong. Everyone got out safely," she assured them, giving them their clothes.

"Andrew?" asked Aaron.

"He's out too, and changing back to his clothes with the others in the other bathroom."

Aaron took his clothes and went into the men's room with Matt and Kevin.

After they made sure it was empty, Matt spoke for the first time since Andrew killed Andrew, "I can't believe I'm an accomplice to murder."

"We all are," said Aaron hotly.

"Hey, relax. I'm not gonna rat us out, just… it's bad, OK?"

"Well, Mark was worst, so he deserved it."

"Did he, though?"

Aaron looked at him. _Unbelievable._ "Yes! He forced us eat human flesh!"

Aaron didn't realize he said—more like _shouted_ —that out loud until two pair of eyes stared widely at him. Shit.

"Forget I said anything," Aaron finished changing and shoved the scrubs down the garbage can.

"Aaron- what?"

"Forget it!" Aaron stormed out of the bathroom and walked past Dan and Renee who called after him.

Aaron walked to the waiting room but no one was there. What the hell?

"Excuse me," Aaron said to the first nurse he saw. "Where are the people who were waiting on Neil Josten?"

"Oh Mr. Josten got out of the surgery a few minutes ago," she answered pleasantly. "He's in room 204."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading this chapter!  
> it'll take me a couple of weeks to write and upload the last chapter bc i haven't written it yet and i have my finals coming next week so stay tuned!


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil wakes up after a day, and finds his family around him. Fluff ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings for this one, except for maybe; mentioned forced cannibalism and mentioned murder. have some fluff! (lol) if you spot any mistake, pls hmu!  
> Eid Mubarak to those who celebrate it!

Neil felt sluggish and tired. Everything felt dull and heavy, like he ran a hundred mile marathon the day before.

He groaned and eased his eyes open.

At first, things were blurry and he wondered how long he had been asleep. Then a white ceiling came into focus, and he realized the scent of stifling antiseptics were filling the air.

He was in a hospital, then.

Slowly, things came back to him.

He was taken by four psychopathic brothers. Aaron and him, they went through a lot, like; eating that piece of human flesh.

Neil gagged at the memory, feeling like he was gonna be sick.

Someone was by his side in seconds, hands on the back of his neck. A pair of hazel eyes looked down at him—Andrew.

Neil had never felt so relieved before.

"Andrew," he croaked. His voice not as bad as he imagined it to be.

Andrew looked tired, with dark bags under his eyes. Neil felt bad that he was the cause of it. Again.

"I'm sorry—"

"Don't," Andrew cut him off, his fingers brushing his chapped lips.

Neil nodded slightly. He felt much better, and looking around the bed to the IV they hooked to him, it looked like they gave him _a lot_ of morphine.

Like lightening, the thought struck him. Neil looked back at Andrew, who still didn't lift his gaze off of Neil, and asked about Aaron.

"He's at a hotel with the rest of the team," Andrew answered.

The room was quiet for a few minutes after Neil settled back on the bed. The room was slightly lit by the early morning light coming from the window, the only sound was the faint buzzing of machines outside the hospital room.

Neil broke the silent, "what percent am I on?"

Andrew was still looking at him with that expressionless gaze. "300%."

"I can't believe I broke percentage as we know it," Neil tried to joke, smiling.

"My hatred for you can do the impossible," Andrew deadpanned, his hand came to rest on Neil's cheek. Staring at Neil's eyes, he asked the three-word question Neil had been waiting for, "yes or no?"

"Yes," Neil didn't hesitate to answer.

Andrew inched closer to his face, careful not to jostle his body and hurt him. For a moment, all Neil got was a soft brush of Andrew's lips, but then Andrew pressed harder, kissing him like always.

Neil made a quiet noise at the back of his throat as he kissed Andrew back, his bandaged right hand coming to Andrew's pale hair.

Andrew pulled back slightly, their hands still all over each other. Neil made a sound of protest but continued looking at Andrew's beautiful hazel eyes.

"I should lock you in a room where you can't annoy me anymore," Andrew said, voice perfectly composed.

Neil smirked. "You should've killed me when you had the chance."

Andrew glared, choosing to ignore Neil's new favorite phrase. "You look like shit," He said pulling away, and sitting on the chair beside the bed.

Neil hummed, "I feel," _fine_ , "okay."

"That's because you're drugged out of your mind."

Neil hummed again, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Go back to sleep," Andrew said, then continued when Neil was about to protest. "I'll wake you when your precious team arrives."

Neil let himself relax, his eyes closing, "our."

"What?"

"You said _my_ team, it's _our_ team."

Andrew glared at him like he'd see through his closed eyes. "Just go to sleep, junkie."

~

The next time Neil woke up, he was surrounded by all of his family.

"He's up!" Matt exclaimed from his left.

Neil groaned. He was feeling worse than before, it seemed like the drugs were wearing off.

Andrew was standing guard on his right, daring anyone to come touch Neil. No one came too close, obviously.

"Hey, guys," Neil greeted his team when the pain subsided.

They greeted him back with a chorus of 'hey's, 'how are you feeling?', and of course, 'what the fuck, Neil?' and 'how many times are you gonna almost die and worry us?'

"I'm sorry I scared you," Neil said. Aaron huffed, and Neil's attention was drawn to the blond. "How's your hand?"

"It'll heal," Aaron answered, then looked at Neil's broken wrist. "And yours?"

"It's not my dominant hand, so I can still play."

A chorus of groans filled the room from everyone except Kevin, who looked vaguely satisfied.

Nicky was the first to walk closer to Neil. Andrew tensed but stayed in his spot, glaring daggers at his cousin.

"Neil! You won't believe what happened!" Nicky exclaimed, happily. "We were all like Brooklyn nine-nine/Ocean eleven, it was so cool!"

"Nicky, can you maybe not confess to _that_ while we're still in the hospital?" Aaron asked.

Nicky looked sheepish, "oh, come on! Coach isn't here, it's just us!"

Neil was confused. He looked at Andrew with a raised brow. "What am I missing?"

"A happy childhood?" Andrew suggested, sarcastically.

Neil rolled his eyes, a smile tugging on his lips. "That's not what I meant-"

"A fashion sense?" asked Allison, smirking. Neil glared at her, then at the rest of the foxes as they started listing things.

"Self-control?"

"Your long lost innocence?"

"Being good at Exy?"

"An actual filter?"

"Okay, that's enough! I get it!" Neil cut the off, a smile on his face. The foxes laughed. He glared at Aaron, "and I'm great at Exy!"

"I wouldn't say that yet," Kevin whispered, thankfully Neil didn't hear him.

"I was talking about, you know, that guy, _Mark_ , that the cops brought here," Nicky answered after a few seconds.

Neil stiffened and glanced at Aaron who was watching him closely, "what about him?"

The room was silent for a few long moments until Andrew rolled his eyes. "He shouldn't have touched you or Aaron."

Neil stared at Andrew, understanding what he was trying to say. "You killed him?" Andrew just kept staring at him. Neil looked at the rest of the foxes. His family. "And you helped?"

"Yes," Aaron replied. Neil and him stared at each other for a few seconds, having a silent conversation.

Nicky interrupted, "is anybody feeling like we've been here before? Like Andrew confessing murder in front of everyone?"

Aaron huffed, and took his phone out of his pocket with his uninjured hand, and started texting.

Andrew just glared at Nicky. But that wasn't something new.

Nicky seemed oblivious about either of his cousins' reactions and continued to tell Neil their 'epic' story.

"—and Katelyn turned out to be bi!" Nicky looked at Aaron for any objection when he received none, he smirked and continued, "Kevin was wearing a pink scrub and you totally missed Andrew in a doctor's coat!"

Kevin huffed. Neil looked at Andrew up and down, "too bad I've missed it."

Andrew turned Neil's face away with two fingers, careful not to hurt him. Neil smiled.

"But the star of the show was obviously me! I was distracting the cops outside, being all sexy and shit!" Allison shook her head. Nicky noticed, "don't lie! That guy with a rainbow pin was totally distracted!"

Neil ignored them and looked at Andrew, smiling. "I always thought Aaron would be the first doctor in the family, guess I was wrong."

"Shut up."

Neil laughed.

~

The next day after the (real) doctor left his room, Matt and Kevin stayed behind, looking at each other, awkwardly silent until Neil spoke.

"What is it?" Neil was sitting on the bed, feeling better than before.

Kevin crossed his hands and Matt spoke, "well, Aaron said something the other day about, well, something that Mark made you do…"

Neil looked between Matt and Kevin, "what did he say?"

"That… Mark made you…"

"Eat human flesh," Kevin continued.

Neil made a disgusted face, "don't remind me."

"So, it's true?"

"Aaron wouldn't lie about something like that."

Matt put his hand above Neil's own on the bed, genuinely sad, "I'm sorry that happened to you, buddy. God, that guy really deserves what happened to him!"

Kevin looked angry too, and a little sick, "they're disgusting."

"Remind me to thank Andrew later," Matt joked. Mostly. He continued, "I really want to hug you right now."

Neil was used to hugs from his foxes, especially from Matt. "Yes."

Matt leaned in and put his arms around Neil's smaller frame, being extra careful. Neil put his bandaged hand around Matt's middle and let the bigger man tell him about how much he missed him.

After Matt pulled back, Kevin stood over him awkwardly.

"Just hug, already!" Matt groaned, but was still smirking at how awkward Kevin became when casual and platonic touch was involved.

Kevin glared at him then ruffled Neil's hair like he was a kid and left the room without saying a word.

"Um, that's awfully sweet coming from him," Matt said when Neil glared after Kevin. Neil silently agreed, nodding.

The door opened and Aaron walked in, "Kevin just ran out, red and flustered."

Matt and Neil laughed, Matt spoke, "he had to engage in human contact."

Aaron hummed, rolling his eyes, and walked to Neil's unoccupied bedside , looking at where Matt's hand was still intertwined with Neil's, eyebrow raised.

Matt withdrew his hands, clearing his throat, "well, I better go and leave you two to talk… I'll tell the others you're feeling better."

Neil nodded, "thanks, Matt."

Matt grinned, ruffling Neil's hair, "no problem, buddy!"

When Matt exited the room, leaving Aaron and Neil alone, Neil asked, "why do they always like to mess my hair?"

"They think you're their kid or something," Aaron said sarcastically.

Neil laughed, "yeah, I think I heard them talking about that."

The two stayed silent, looking at each other until Aaron looked away and cleared his throat. "We've been through… a lot of shit."

Neil was about to say something sarcastic, but realized Aaron was trying to be serious. He nodded, "We have."

"I- look, I'm not gonna say this again, I want to thank you for stopping those bastards from taking Katelyn too. I don't know what I would have done if she was with us."

Neil stared at Aaron for a moment then nodded, understanding how Aaron felt. He would have felt the same if Andrew was in Katelyn's position. "you're welcome."

"I want to say that," Aaron took a deep breath, "don't take this the wrong way—not that I care how you take it!—but I want to say that I'm glad it was you that got kidnapped—"

Neil smirked, he was done trying to be serious with Aaron, "that's the worst thing you could say to another person, though I'm not surprised."

"I meant, got kidnapped _with me_!"

"Do you like me or something?"

Aaron glared and huffed, "I hate you."

Neil was sure there was a joke about the Minyard twins and their _believable_ 'I hate you's to him. "Well, you better be careful of what you say or people will start thinking you're Andrew."

"Whatever," Aaron crossed his arms, "just don't start thinking we're friends now!"

Neil laughed, "I wouldn't dream of it."

Aaron looked at him for a few seconds then rolled his eyes, his shoulders weren't as tense as they were before. "Well, I'm gonna go now. Andrew is waiting outside."

Neil smiled, "OK."

~

Andrew walked in after a few minutes, standing beside Neil, and leaned closer, "I made an appointment with Bee for you," before Neil could protest, Andrew put his palm on Neil's mouth. "and Aaron, since you two have so much to talk about now."

Neil hummed, looking at Andrew, slowly dragging his hand away from his mouth, "I thought about you when I thought I wasn't gonna make it, you made me fight harder."

Andrew just glared, "if you didn't make it, I would've dragged you from the dead just to kill you myself."

"Yes or no?"

Andrew answered with a certain 'yes,' before he leaned further into Neil's space and planted a kiss on his lips, muttering 'junkie' when Neil smiled into the kiss.

~

David Wymack did not get paid enough for this. That's what he thought when two police officers came to him to ask about his team's whereabouts when one of Josten and Minyard's kidnappers died suddenly.

"What are you talking about?" David grunted, glaring at the cops. "They were right in front of me in the waiting room. Waiting for their friend to get out of surgery!"

"We're sorry for what happened to you," one of the cops said, and the two cops left him.

Lying to the police, being an accomplice to murder, having a death magnet on his team. Yes indeed, David Wymack does _not_ get paid enough for this shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe i finished this story! I'm so relieved! please leave a comment to tell me what you thought of this trashy fic, I'd love to hear your opinions~~

**Author's Note:**

> i just edited the previous chapters, so check it out and the new tags.   
> comment down if you wanna. and thank you for reading this garbage!


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